page_title: Interstate 235 (Iowa)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Interstate 235 (Iowa) / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Interstates in today's terms I-35 I-80 I-235
context_page_description: Interstate 235 in Iowa is an auxiliary Interstate Highway that runs just north of downtown Des Moines through the heart of the Des Moines metropolitan area. I-235 runs from the junction of Interstate 35 and Interstate 80 in West Des Moines to the separation of the same two interstates in Ankeny. The highway is approximately 14 miles long.
  I-235, which had seen little improvement since its construction in the 1960s, was completely rebuilt and widened in a project that spanned most of the 2000s. Prior to the reconstruction, I-235 had two lanes in each direction with a third lane near downtown; the entire route now has at least three lanes of traffic in each direction, with an additional one or two lanes closer to the heart of the city. The modernized freeway now handles on average between 75,000–125,000 vehicles per day, making it the busiest highway in the state of Iowa.
context_section_description: The first section of Interstate 235 to open, from Cottage Grove Avenue to Keo Way, opened on December 14, 1961.  Over the next seven years, sections of I-235 opened, spreading east and west toward the interchanges until it was completed on October 30, 1968.
  In October 1963, the Des Moines city council designated I-235 the John MacVicar Freeway in honor of two former mayors of Des Moines: John MacVicar, Sr., (1896–1900, 1916–1918, 1928) and John MacVicar, Jr., (1942–1948).  However, this name is seldom used; most people simply refer to it as I-235.
  In March 2002, a six-year-long project to completely rebuild I-235 and the bridges which cross it began. The first two years consisted of rebuilding most of the bridges which cross it, starting with 42nd Street in West Des Moines.  The final four years of the project entailed finishing the remaining bridges, widening, regrading, and repaving the entire length of the highway.
caption: The current route of I-235 closely follows the original plans from 1955, seen here.
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