BUSINESS
WEST End: I-35/IA 27 exit 194, Clear Lake, Cerro Gordo County
Facing west on 122/Business 18
Facing west on 122/Business 18, before and after the northbound 35 onramp
In 2003, the 27 shields were under I-35 (bottom center, top photo). Like signs around Waterloo, this has been changed so 27 gets its own sets. It's a bit misleading to have the 18 arrows as they are on the left assembly because the "left" is the same turn as southbound 35 and 27, which are marked with ahead arrows here. The better solution would be to have a simple ahead arrow under 18, and then after the northbound onramp (right photo), split it into "East 18 <-; West 18 ^".
Facing west on 122/Business 18
Right photo by Jason Hancock
The photo at right shows this assembly before IA 27, with everything on one pole.
Facing east on 18
This direction is also the north end of Business Loop I-35 though there is no signage for it.
Facing east on 18, which becomes 122
Signs on bridge before IA 27
Photo by Jason Hancock
The business route does not get signed on this older BGS, which uses a rare (for green signs) non-cutout shield for IA 122.
Facing north on 35
BGSs in both directions use mini-shields instead of full-sized ones, because the addition of IA 122 precluded full-size shields with directions on the sign that previously only held a US 18 shield at the top. Notice how the direction tags are on plates and "bolted" onto the signs, and Business 18 is missing.
Facing south on 35
Photo by Jason Hancock
The business route is only signed in one direction, as most in Iowa are. The resulting clutter prevents Business 18 from being included on the SB signs, although it could have been included on the NB sign. Otherwise, one interstate business route, one US business route, one US highway and one state highway would all be on the BGS!
Facing east on 122/Business 18
Junction US 65
Facing north on 65, but heading west on Business 18
At this intersection, Business 18 and 122 part ways, and Business 18 leaves the original route to go south. (122 east is a block behind us.) Just past the light 65 splits into one-ways. The mall is built right on top of where 65 used to run.
EAST End: Interchange, US 18/IA 27 and US 65, Cerro Gordo County
Facing south on 65, but heading east on Business 18
Photo by Jason Hancock
While the DOT added "South" to all other IA 27 shields south of Charles City, while with US 18, 27 is often forced to act like an east-west highway. Compare the foreground and rear sign sets to the ones below.
Facing south on 65, but heading east on Business 18
Facing south on 65, but heading east on Business 18
Facing west on 18
Photo by Jason Hancock
Old photo: Original sign on bypass
Jason says that in 2001, "Federal Ave." was replaced with "Downtown Mason City." The exact same thing happened with US 30's bypass of Marshalltown, where at the IA 14 interchange "S Center St." was replaced with "Marshalltown Business District." Compare to the eastbound picture below.
Facing east on 18
The left sign, perhaps more than any other, illuminates the difference between the DOT's standard font used on BGSs and a funky font that showed up along the US 18 bypass and occasionally other places. (This font has also been spotted on the IA 163 bypass of Pella and one BGS for IA 28 on I-35/80.)
The key to telling apart the two fonts on this sign is in the letters O and W. In "Downtown Mason City," which has the standard font, the letters are taller than their counterparts in "Rockwell".
Facing west on 18
Facing west on 18
Facing west on the offramp
Pictures by Jason Hancock: Fifth, eighth, eleventh, and 17th, 9/2/00
Pictures by me: First, 12th, 16th, 18th, and 19th, 3/22/03; sixth and seventh, 7/16/05; second-fourth, ninth, tenth, 13th, 15th, and 20th-22nd, 5/28/06
Page created 12/16/02; last updated 7/10/06
