For more than a century, the Iowa Highway Commission and Iowa DOT have promoted the growth and betterment of Iowa’s transportation system. Still headquartered in Ames, the agency continues to serve the transportation needs of Iowa and its citizens.
The first license to operate a man-powered ferry crossing from Illinois into Iowa was received by James White of Hancock County, Illinois, to operate to Fort Madison. Horse-powered ferries followed in 1841. The first steam ferry was operated by John Wilson in 1852 in Davenport. The first license for regular ferry service across the Des Moines River was issued to John B. Scott, who operated the business with his brother, Willson Alexander Scott.
July 4, 1891, the Dinkey made its first run between downtown Ames and campus.
In April 1911, the Red Ball Transportation Company opened the first regular passenger bus line in Iowa, operating between Charles City and Waverly.
On April 9, 1913, the IHC separated from the Iowa State College, becoming an independent state-administered organization, managed by a three-member commission, comprised of Anson Marston, H.C. Beard and J.W. Holden.
In 1926, Iowa began painting a center black line on every mile of primary road pavement to reduce head-on collisions.
In 1930, Congress authorized a nine-foot channel project on the Mississippi River between Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., and the mouth of the Missouri River just above St. Louis, Mo.
In 1932, the Iowa General Assembly required a driver’s license for operators of all automobiles in Iowa.
One of Iowa's most significant contributions to the construction of the Interstate Highway System was the invention of the slipform paver. The slipform paver was invented by materials engineers with the Iowa Highway Commission, now the Iowa Department of Transportation.
I-29 was built in segments from 1958 to 1973 with the initial construction in the Council Bluffs and Sioux City metro areas.
I-35 was built between 1958 and 1975, with the early segments opening in the Des Moines area.
In Dec. 1959 the Iowa State Highway Commission placed an experimental "No Passing Zone" sign on U.S. 30 from Clinton to the Missouri River.
This 16-minute film, produced in 1960, and titled "Highway Relocations", was created by the Iowa State Highway Commission (IHC), now the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT). The film depicts traffic congestion, sharp and winding sections of road, steep hills slowing trucks to a crawl and dangerous vehicle and pedestrian crossings. These were important factors in changes to highway design and safety improvements, and depicted the reason the highway relocation was needed. In fact, when the film was produced, U.S. 30 ( Lincoln Highway) was the busiest primary road in Iowa. The section between State Center and Boone was deemed “critical,” meaning it was considered dangerous by the IHC’s efficiency standards.
The "Aim for Ames" ceremony for the completion of Interstate 35 from Des Moines to Ames took place on Nov. 11, 1965.
Interstate 480 is similar to I-129 in that it has a very short route in Iowa, three-quarters of a mile, connecting Nebraska to I-29. I-480 connects downtown Omaha to Council Bluffs and follows the alignment of U.S. 6 in Iowa. The route opened in 1966 and like I-129 it opened once the bridge over the Missouri River was completed.
In 1968, the Iowa State Highway Commission (IHC), created and released "This is YOUR Highway Commission", a 24 ½- minute film that showcased the responsibilities and functions of the IHC. The narrator describes the activities of various offices and employees, and explains how those activities benefited Iowa’s citizens and motorists. The film journeys through all areas of IHC's responsibility for Iowa’s roadways including: administration, planning, design, bidding, right of way, materials, construction, maintenance and facilities.
The first section of roadway was opened to traffic Dec. 14, 1961, and the final section on Oct. 30, 1968. Originally, the project was to be completed in 1972. However, in 1963, the Iowa State Highway Commission announced it planned to complete the freeway in 1968, four years ahead of schedule.
In 1974, the 65th Iowa General Assembly created the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT), albeit through a long legislative process. It placed other modal agencies, including an Aeronautics Commission, under the department’s responsibility. The DOT was created to promote more orderly and effective planning and funding of programs, and to achieve a more balanced transportation system.
In 1975 Iowa became one of the first states to put commercial names/logos on offical service signs along the interstates. Iowa's logo sign policy became a model for other states.
On Sept. 11, 1982, Hereditary Chief Ernest Wabasha VII of the Mdewakanton Dakota tribe and Maria Pearson of the Turtle Clan of the Yankton Sioux tribe presented Iowa Department of Transportation Director Warren Dunham with a ceremonial pipe (calumet) as a symbol of trust and new relations between the Iowa DOT and Iowa’s Native American community.
In anticipation of the Iowa Department of Transportation’s 75th anniversary in 1988, the DOT commissioned William H. Thompson to conduct the research and write a history of transportation in Iowa.
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