Iowa Highway 9 | ||||
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Route information | ||||
Maintained by Iowa DOT | ||||
Length: | 295.088 mi (474.898 km) | |||
Existed: | 1920 – present | |||
Major junctions | ||||
West end: | SD 42 near Larchwood | |||
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East end: | WIS 82 in Lansing | |||
Location | ||||
Counties: | ||||
Highway system | ||||
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Iowa Highway 9 is the most northern of Iowa's east–west highways, traversing the entire northern tier of counties. It runs from the eastern terminus of South Dakota Highway 42 at the South Dakota border east of Sioux Falls, South Dakota near Benclare, to the Wisconsin border at Lansing where it continues as Wisconsin Highway 82. It is largely rural in character, bypassing any large city. Making a few dips north and south, the highway largely follows a very straight east–west alignment.
Iowa 9 enters Iowa from South Dakota as a continuation of South Dakota Highway 42. The highway's entry point is four and a half miles (7.2 km) east of Iowa's northwestern corner. It heads south and east through Lyon County until it reaches Larchwood. There, it turns south for about a mile (1.5 km) where it meets the northern end of Iowa 182. From here, the highway runs due east for twelve miles (19 km). During this straight stretch, it passes just to the south of Lester. Just west of Rock Rapids, it meets U.S. Highway 75 (US 75). The two routes overlap one another for one mile (1.6 km) as the travel through northern Rock Rapids. US 75 splits away to the south and Iowa 9 heads into downtown Rock Rapids, where it crosses the Rock River.