Iowa Highway 23 (1969–1997)

Iowa Highway 23

Route information

Length:

14.316 mi (23.039 km)

Existed:

January 1, 1969 – July 16, 1997

Major junctions

South end:

US 63 in Ottumwa

North end:

Iowa 137 in Eddyville

Location

Counties:

Wapello

Highway system

Iowa Primary Highway System

←

Iowa 23

Iowa 24

→

Iowa Highway 23 (Iowa 23) was a 14-mile-long (23 km) state highway in southern Iowa. It ran from U.S. Route 63 (US 63) in Ottumwa to Iowa 137 in Eddyville. It was created in 1969 when it traded route numbers with Iowa 15 in Van Buren County. It was removed from the state highway system in 1997 when US 63 was rerouted between Ottumwa and Oskaloosa.

Iowa 23 began in downtown Ottumwa underneath a bridge on which US 63 passed overhead. Direct access to US 63 was provided by a ramp which connected to Kitterman Avenue. The first three quarter-miles (1.2 km) of the highway was on a one-way couplet; northbound Iowa 23 followed 2nd Street West, while southbound was on Main Street West. The two directions converged at an intersection with McPherson Street, which is located next to a level crossing of the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad. As Iowa 23 left Ottumwa, it traveled northwest on a two-lane highway with narrow shoulders.

Iowa 23 continued to the northwest through rural Wapello County. The entire route paralleled the Des Moines River. Between Ottumwa and Chillicothe, the BNSF Railway runs near the highway and the river. The tracks cross over to the western side of the river halfway between Ottumwa and Chillicothe. An intersection with Chillicothe Road, signed as County Road T67 (CR T67) roughly marked the halfway point of Iowa 23. The second half of the route was more sparsely populated than the first half; corn fields and the occasional country home lined both sides of the highway. Iowa 23 entered Eddyville from the southeast. It ended at a T intersection with Iowa 37. Iowa 23 made up the southern leg while Iowa 137 was the western and northern legs.

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