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Roads, streets and bridges

  • There are more public road miles in Iowa than interstate miles in the entire 50 states.
  • Iowa ranks 14th in the nation in number of miles of roadway. (2009)
  • There are approximately 38 miles of road for every 1,000 people in Iowa.
  • There are 2,664 bridge structures in Iowa that are made primarily of wood.

2011 Public Road Length - Miles by Ownership
Ownership
Miles
Iowa DOT
8,893*
Counties
89,841
Municipalities
14,904
Parks and institutions
619
Federal agencies
127
Total miles
114,384*
*Totals exclude ramps. The Iowa DOT maintains
9,387 miles of roadway, including 494 miles of ramps.


2011 Bridges - Number of Bridges
Ownership
Bridges
Iowa DOT 4,073
Counties 19,274
Municipalities 1,117
State parks 4
Local parks 3
Other state agencies 18
Private 12
Railroad 368
Local toll 2
Bureau of Indian Affairs 1
Bureau of Fish and Wildlife 1
National Park Service 2
Corps of Engineers 2
Army 18
Unknown 54
Total 24,799


Railroad bridges over highways maintained by the Iowa DOT (Updated: July 2011)
Description
Quantity
Number of railroad bridges over highways maintained by the Iowa DOT 69
Number of railroad bridges over Primary Highway System routes 63
Number of railroad bridges over interstate routes 6
Number of railroad bridges for which the Iowa DOT has some maintenance/inspection responsibility 15
Number of railroad bridges less than 25 years old 6
Number of railroad bridges between 26 and 50 years old 25
Number of railroad bridges between 51 and70 years old 14
Number of railroad bridges with age unknown 2
Oldest railroad bridge over a highway maintained by the Iowa DOT 84 years
Newest railroad bridge over a highway maintained by the Iowa DOT 3 years


Bridge Rating Definitions
Primary Highway System - Age of Bridges by Decade
Primary Highway System – Condition of Bridges
Primary Highway System and Interstate System – Condition of Bridges
Primary Highway System – Pavement Condition