U.S. Highway 61 (US 61) is a United States Highway that serves eastern Iowa. It enters the state from Missouri near Keokuk with US 136. North of Keokuk, it is overlapped by US 218 for a few miles. It the follows the course of the Mississippi River past Montrose and Fort Madison. It meets US 34 at Burlington. It passes through Wapello and bypasses Muscatine and Blue Grass on its way toward Davenport. There, it follows Interstate 280 (I-280) and I-80 around the Quad Cities. North of Davenport, it follows a freeway north toward DeWitt where it meets US 30. The highway continues north through Maquoketa and reaches the Dubuque area. There it is joined by US 151 and briefly by US 52. The two highways enter the downtown area on an expressway. Due to the proximity of the Mississippi River and railroad tracks that lie between, the routes have an indirect junction with US 20. The two highways leave the state and enter Wisconsin about north of the Illinois–Wisconsin state line.
The route that would become US 61 was organized as a branch of the Burlington Way. Then in 1920, the Iowa State Highway Commission organized the primary road system, which assigned the branch of the Burlington Way that passed through Davenport and Dubuque a route number: Primary Road No. 20. Six years later, the U.S. Highway System was created and most of No. 20 was renumbered US 61. The early U.S. Highways passed through every town within a reasonable distance along the route. Road construction projects that began in the 1950s sought to rebuild and straighten all across the state. As traffic increased in populated areas, the highway commission started building four-lane highways like Kerrigan Road in Dubuque. In the 1970s, work began to widen US 61 to four lanes in rural parts of the state. The freeway section between Davenport and DeWitt opened in 1975. Muscatine was bypassed by a four-lane road in the 1980s. In Dubuque, the aging Eagle Point Bridge was in need of replacement, so US 61 and US 151 traffic was rerouted through East Dubuque, Illinois, until the Dubuque–Wisconsin Bridge opened in 1982. Shortly thereafter work commenced on connecting the new bridge to Kerrigan Road via downtown Dubuque.
Through the mid-1990s and early-2000s, road construction projects consisted of twinning existing rural parts of US 61. A bypass of Maquoketa was built and the four-lane road was extended north from DeWitt to Dubuque by the end of the 1990s. South of Davenport, a four-lane connection to Muscatine was completed while bypassing Blue Grass. More recently, US 61 was rerouted out of downtown Davenport because a low-clearance railroad bridge had a tendency to get hit by semi truck drivers who misjudged the height of their trucks. In the 2010s, a bypass of Fort Madison opened and twinning projects began again south of Muscatine.
Route description US 61 and US 136 begin their courses in Iowa on a bridge over the Des Moines River southwest of Keokuk. Once on land, the highway turns towards the east and US 61 splits away to the north along a bypass. U.S. Route 61 Business (US 61 Business) continues east with US 136. The bypass ends at US 218, which is also the northern end of the business route. From there, US 61 and US 218 head north together along a four-lane divided highway and past Keokuk's airport. Near Montrose, US 218 exits the highway and heads northwest towards Donnellson. Between Montose and Fort Madison, the road runs along the western bank of the Mississippi River. The Nauvoo Illinois Temple, which sits atop a hill across the river in Nauvoo, Illinois, can be seen from US 61. As the highway nears Fort Madison, it moves away from the river in order to bypass the city.
Four interchanges provide access to Fort Madison from the west and north. Iowa 2, which ends at US 61, and US 61 Business, which begins here, is the first interchange on the western side of the city. The County Road J40 (CR J40) interchange connects to both downtown Fort Madison to the south and West Point to the northwest. Exits for CR X32 and the back side of US 61 Business, which provide access to the municipal airport and Iowa State Penitentiary, respectively, complete Fort Madison's grade-separated junctions.
Shortly thereafter, the highway turns to the northeast and passes by Wever, where it meets the eastern end of Iowa 16 and crosses the Skunk River. The road then turns north and enters the Burlington area. The highway roughly separates Burlington to the east and West Burlington to the west. An interchange with US 34 and Iowa 163 is the only intersection with a numbered highway in the Burlington area.
North of Burlington, US 61 heads north and slightly northwest. It passes through Dodgeville and Mediapolis. Shortly after crossing into Louisa County, it meets the eastern end of Iowa 78 east of Morning Sun. The highway crosses the Iowa River just north of Wapello. At Grandview, US 61 is joined from the west by Iowa 92. The highways then continue north then turn to the northeast to descend onto Muscatine Island, a sandy plain known for growing conditions ideal for melons, particularly muskmelons.
On the southwestern edge of Muscatine, US 61 and Iowa 92 turn off of the highway onto a bypass of city. US 61 Business continues northeasterly from the intersection. The bypass forms a near-180 degree squared arc around the city. Near the halfway mark of the road around Muscatine, the two highways are joined by Iowa 22. The highway then turns to the east, where it roughly marks the northern city limit. The bypass ends at an intersection with Iowa 38 and the other end of US 61 Business. There, both Iowa 22 and Iowa 92 follow Iowa 38 toward the city's riverfront.
US 61 continues to the northeast along a four-lane expressway; two exits provide access to Blue Grass. A few miles east of Blue Grass, the highway meets and turns north onto Interstate 280 (I-280). US 61 Business, officially known as Iowa 461, continues east into Davenport. I-280 and US 61 head north along the western edge of Davenport. At the Kimberly Road exit, they are briefly joined by US 6. About later, I-280 ends at an interchange with I-80. Westbound US 6 follows westbound I-80 and northbound US 61 follows eastbound I-80. About later, US 61 exits from I-80 and rejoins the northern end of US 61 Business.
Heading north again, US 61 travels along a freeway that passes Mount Joy and the Davenport Municipal Airport toward Eldridge. It descends into a valley and crosses the Wapsipinicon River and into Clinton County. Upon reaching DeWitt there is a trumpet interchange, which is the southern junction with US 30. That highway heads eastbound from the interchange toward Clinton and the Mississippi River. A little over a mile later (), US 30 exits to the west toward Grand Mound and Cedar Rapids; an older alignment of US 30 heads east into DeWitt. The freeway continues due north for a little while; it downgrades to an expressway at an intersection with the former routing of US 61 between DeWitt and Welton.
The highway heads to the north-northwest as it snakes around Welton and a collection of houses that built along the old roadway. West of Delmar is an interchange with Iowa 136. As the highway approaches Maquoketa, it takes a hard curve to the west and meets Main Street at a folded diamond interchange. It then takes another hard turn back to the north and intersects Iowa 64. Shortly thereafter, it crosses the Maquoketa River. As it continues north, US 61 passes the Hurstville Historic District, where lime was manufactured in kilns which are visible from the highway. The road passes by the unincorporated towns of Fulton and Otter Creek and through Zwingle, the latter town lies on the Jackson–Dubuque county line.
Now in Dubuque County for the rest of its journey through Iowa, US 61 still follows a largely due-north course. It passes the Dubuque Regional Airport shortly before descending a long hill and meeting US 151 at a trumpet interchange. US 151 joins US 61 from the southwest where it leads to Cascade and Cedar Rapids. Shortly thereafter, the two highways come to an interchange with US 52. The Southwest Arterial expressway opened in 2020. The three highways enter the Dubuque area together and the city begins to build up around the roadway. US 52, which provides access to the Mines of Spain and the Julien Dubuque gravesite monument, exits the other two highways on Dubuque's south side. US 61 and US 151 continue north into the heart of Dubuque.
As they descend into Dubuque's riverfront, the Locust Street exit provides direct access to US 20. Direct access from US 61 / US 151 is not possible due to the location of the Julien Dubuque Bridge landing, which is shifted away from the river bank in order to clear a rail yard. There are two stoplights in downtown Dubuque; one of which provides access to an industrial area along the river and the other is the opposite end of the US 20 connector road. The northern intersection is adjacent to downtown Dubuque and also has a connection to the Port of Dubuque, which is otherwise inaccessible from the expressway. From there, the highway elevates over the city while heading to the northeast and curving to the east as it reaches the Mississippi River. It crosses the Dubuque–Wisconsin Bridge and the two highways enter Wisconsin.
History What is now known as US 61 has been used, under various names, for over 100 years. The route was first organized as a branch of the Burlington Way in 1916 during the Good Roads Movement. Then it was maintained by as association that solicited donations from people who lived along the route. In 1920, the Iowa General Assembly enacted a primary road bill that shifted maintenance of highways in the state from associations to Iowa's 99 counties. At this time, the Davenport-to-Dubuque branch of the Mississippi Valley Highway, as the Burlington Way as known by then, was designated Primary Road No. 20. That number between the Missouri state line and Dubuque was replaced by US 61 when the U.S. Highway System was created in 1926.
In 1931, the Iowa State Highway Commission declared Iowa was no longer a mud road state. Most highways in the state were either fully paved or graveled; only a small portion of road in Louisa County was not yet paved. The highway commission began projects to modernize the original highways that were paved in the 1930s; in populated area, that meant four-lane roads. As early as 1958, an 11-member road study committee recommended the construction of a state freeway system not to exceed in length. This freeway system included sections of US 34 between Ottumwa and Burlington. Ten years later, the Iowa State Highway Commission approved a freeway-expressway system that would complement the Interstate Highway System under construction. Fuel conservation spurred by the oil crisis of 1973, increasing inflation, and decreased federal revenues caused the commission to reduce the number of projects undertaken by nearly 50%.