U.S. Highway 63 (US 63) is a United States Highway that runs through the eastern third of Iowa. It begins at the Missouri state line southwest of Bloomfield and travels north through Ottumwa, Oskaloosa, Tama, Waterloo, and New Hampton. It ends at the Minnesota state line at Chester. Between Ottumwa and Oskaloosa, the highway is a four-lane controlled-access highway. Through Waterloo and New Hampton, it is partially controlled; that is, the road as both grade-separated interchanges and at-grade intersections. The rest of the highway is largely a two-lane rural highway.
While US 63 was created in 1926, it dates back eleven years prior to the creation of the Daniel Boone Trail, which sought to be the best north–south highway in an era when most routes traveled from east to west. Through Iowa, it traveled through Ottumwa, Oskaloosa, Prairie City, Des Moines, Boone, and Algona. Upon creation of the primary highway system in 1920, the Daniel Boone Trail was assigned a series of route numbers. When the U.S. Highway System was created in 1926, US 63 was assigned to the path that had been the Daniel Boone Trail, but only from the Missouri state line to the state capitol in Des Moines. 1934 brought major changes to the U.S. Highway System as a whole and US 63 had a major realignment. Instead of turning to the northwest at Oskaloosa, it now traveled north through Tama, Waterloo, and New Hampton, eventually reaching Lake Superior at Ashland, Wisconsin.
Since then, the routing of US 63 has served the same communities, but the route has been adjusted as new highway projects have been completed. Significant infrastructure projects in Ottumwa and Waterloo in the 1950s through the 1970s updated the roadway to modern standards. In the 1990s and 2000s, large parts of the US 63 corridor found itself removed from planning budgets while other portions of the route were widened to four lanes. Portions of a Des Moines-to-Burlington corridor that included US 63 were widened to four lanes in the 1990s through the mid-2000s. Through Waterloo, all of US 63 north of the Cedar River was rebuilt in the 2010s. It was expected that the renewed highway would be a catalyst for economic growth in the area.
Route description US 63 enters the state in Davis County north of Lancaster, Missouri. It heads north for about until it reaches Iowa 2. The route turns east onto Iowa 2 and the two highways travel together until Bloomfield. There, Iowa 2 continues east and US 63 turns north and travels through the town. North of Bloomfield, the highway does not pass through another community for the next when it arrives in Ottumwa. At a roundabout on the southeast side of town, it meets US 34. The first of two business routes splits away from the main route and follows westbound US 34 while eastbound US 34 joins US 63. The two highways cross the Des Moines River and curve around the downtown area of Ottumwa until they reach Iowa 163. Here, at a sweeping curve, US 34 follows Iowa 163 east and US 63 heads north. The freeway bypasses Ottumwa to the east and then curves around to the north; a couple interchanges serve local traffic. At the Iowa 149 interchange, the US 63 business route rejoins the mainline highway.
After continuing west for a few miles, US 63 and Iowa 163 turn to the northwest near Chillicothe to follow the course of the Des Moines River. At Eddyville, they meet Iowa 137 on the south side of the town. Another exit on the north end serves Eddyville Raceway Park. North of Eddyville, they head north for until they reach exit 60 where Iowa 163 continues along the four-lane road and US 63 exits to the north. Coincidentally, this interchange is numbered exit 60 in both directions; it is about from Iowa 163's western end in Des Moines as well as US 63's southern end. US 63 enters Oskaloosa and meets Iowa Highway 92 in the downtown area. As it leaves Oskaloosa, it passes the campus of William Penn University. It continues north and reaches the town of New Sharon. In this town's downtown area, the highway turns east at the intersection of Main and Market streets. Iowa 146 begins its northward trek at the intersection and from 1980 to 2003, Iowa 102 followed West Market Street toward Pella. When Iowa 102 was turned back in May 2003, the City of New Sharon did not enter into a transfer of jurisdiction agreement with the Iowa Department of Transportation for its portion of the highway, thus the state still maintains the of Iowa 102 in the city.
US 63 heads east for a few miles before turning back to the north to head towards Montezuma. There, it skirts the downtown area to the west. Prior to the mid-1990s, it met Iowa 85 at an intersection with Main Street; that highway was turned back to the eastern city limits in 1994. Just south of Malcom, US 63 comes to an interchange with I-80. The crosses a line of the Iowa Interstate Railroad and passes through the community. The highway comes to a T-intersection with US 6 between Grinnell and Brooklyn. The two roads overlap each other for before US 63 splits off to the north. It heads north for about , crosses the Iowa River and enters Tama. In Tama, it passes through the downtown area where it intersects the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway. Farther north it meets the byway again before entering Tama's sister city, Toledo. There it has an interchange with the current routing of US 30 and an intersection with the previous routing, now signed as a business route of US 30.
North of Tama–Toledo, the highway passes through rural Tama County. It meets Iowa 96, which heads west toward Gladbrook at a T-intersection. US 63 turns east for a few miles and then turns north into Traer. There it meets the western end of Iowa 8. Continuing north, the highway passes Buckingham to the west and then intersects Iowa 175 not long after crossing into Black Hawk County. At Hudson, it meets Iowa 58 before turning to the northeast. Shortly before the US 20 interchange, the roadway widens to a four-lane divided highway. Known as Sergeant Road through southwestern Waterloo, the highway follows the course of Black Hawk Creek, which flows to the west of the road. At University Avenue, US 63 curves around to meet it at a right angle. Lying just yards from this intersection is an interchange with US 218. US 63 and US 218 do not overlap each other; US 63 splits into a one-way couplet and each direction surrounds the US 218 freeway. Northeast of US 218, US 63 remains as one-way streets. The northbound lanes use 1st Avenue and the southbound lanes use Mullan Avenue. At the Cedar River, Young Arena lies between the two streets.
North of Franklin Street, the two directions rejoin and form Logan Avenue. The road travels on a viaduct over railroad tracks owned by Canadian National that opened on November 1, 2019. Previously, the roadway went underneath the railroad tracks, but the underpass was prone to flooding. The road continues through northern Waterloo as a five-lane road, two travel lanes in each direction and a central turning lane. A few miles north of the city limits, the turning lane ends and the road becomes a divided highway. At Denver, an interchange serves the community as the highway curves around it to the west. A short distance later is another interchange with Iowa 3. The four-lane highway continues north where it meets Iowa 93 and Iowa 188 in short succession. About north of Frederika lies an interchange with US 18 and Iowa 346. US 18 turns onto the US 63 expressway and they head north toward New Hampton.
Just south of New Hampton is an exit for the second of US 63's business routes. At another interchange near the city center, US 18 exits and heads west; Iowa 24 heads east. The four-lane road curves along the north side of town and meets the northern end of the business route. As the road curves back to the north, the divided highway ends and it becomes a two-lane road for the remainder of its trip through Iowa. It travels through rural Chickasaw and Howard counties until it reaches Iowa 9 roughly midway between Riceville and Cresco. It skirts to the west of Lime Springs and then turns to the northwest. The road passes through Chester, which is the last Iowa community along the route. It crosses the Upper Iowa River and enters Minnesota later. The roadway continues toward Rochester.
History What is now the US 63 corridor has been used, under various names, for over 100 years. The route was first organized as the Daniel Boone Trail in 1915 during the height of the Good Roads Movement. Then, the road was maintained by the Daniel Boone Trail Association, which solicited donations from people who lived along the route. Five years later, the Iowa General Assembly passed a primary road bill which shifted the responsibility of road maintenance from associations to Iowa's 99 counties. At the same time, route numbers were applied to the new primary highway system; the Daniel Boone Trail was designated several route numbers. In 1925, confusion between route associations and nascent state highway systems led to the creation of the U.S. Highway System. U.S. Highway 63 was realized the next year.
A road study organized in 1958 identified roads that should be expanded to four lanes by 1980. The study listed all of Iowa 163 and US 63 from Oskaloosa to Bloomfield. An updated report in 1968 called for two freeways along US 63, one from Des Moines to Burlington that also used Iowa 163 and another from Waterloo to New Hampton, and widening the road to four lanes from Ottumwa south to the Missouri state line and from New Hampton north to Minnesota. Major infrastructure projects were undertaken in Ottumwa in the 1950s and 1960s. In the Waterloo area, there were projects in response to growing traffic needs in the 1960s that carried over into the 1970s. Forty years later, these areas once again modernized their roadways.
Daniel Boone Trail
Spearheaded by former state representative J.B. McHose of Boone, the Daniel Boone Trail Association was created with the idea of creating the pre-eminent north–south highway in the country at the time. McHose met with chambers of commerce in cities along the proposed route in order to drum up interest. The route was intended to travel from St. Louis, Missouri, to St. Paul, Minnesota, by way of Ottumwa, Oskaloosa, Des Moines, Boone, Fort Dodge, Humboldt, and Algona. Through southern Iowa, it was not immediately known where the trail would be located. Meetings in early 1916 clarified that the route between Des Moines and Oskaloosa would follow the northern bank of the Des Moines River and pass through Pella and Prairie City. An alternate route had been proposed through Knoxville and Albia south of the river.
Before numbered highways and road maps became the norm for wayfinding, blue books were an important way for the traveling public to get from place to place. In 1916, then the president of the Daniel Boone Trail Association, McHose accompanied a pathfinder writing for a blue book from Boone to Ottumwa, ensuring the Daniel Boone Trail was recorded correctly for the next edition. At the same time, route markers were being placed along the route. The signs measured and said "Daniel Boone trail, Canada to the gulf."
Primary roads