Iowa Highway 16 is a state highway running from west to east in southeastern Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

. The highway has a length of 65.18 miles (104.9 km). The western terminus of Iowa Highway 16 is at an intersection with U.S. Highway 34 between Agency

Agency, Iowa

Agency is a city in Wapello County, Iowa, United States. The population was 622 at the 2000 census. It is the historic site of an Indian trading post and the grave of Chief Wapello.-History:...

 and Batavia

Batavia, Iowa

Batavia is a city in Jefferson County, Iowa, United States. The population was 500 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Batavia is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....

. The eastern terminus is located at Wever

Wever, Iowa

Wever is an unincorporated community in northeastern Lee County, Iowa, United States. It lies along U.S. Route 61 northeast of the city of Fort Madison, the county seat of Lee County. Its elevation is 561 feet . Although Wever is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of...

 at an intersection with U.S. Highway 61.

Route description

Iowa 16 begins by going south from a freeway interchange with U.S. Highway 34. It goes south to Eldon

Eldon, Iowa

Eldon is a city in Wapello County, Iowa, United States. The population was 998 at the 2000 census. Eldon is the site of the small Carpenter Gothic style house that has come to be known as the American Gothic House because Grant Wood used it for the background in his famous 1930 painting American...

, then turns southeast on an alignment north of the Des Moines River

Des Moines River

The Des Moines River is a tributary river of the Mississippi River, approximately long to its farther headwaters, in the upper Midwestern United States...

. Near Douds

Douds, Iowa

Douds is a census-designated place in Van Buren County, Iowa, United States. The population was 165 at the 2000 census.-History:Douds was platted in the 1860s by brothers Eliab and David Doud. Douds was never officially incorporated as a town, but has a Post Office and its own zip code. On the...

, it intersects Iowa Highway 98

Iowa Highway 98

Iowa Highway 98 is a state highway that runs from south to north in Van Buren County in southeastern Iowa. It begins at Clay Street in Leando and ends at Iowa Highway 16 near the unincorporated area of Iowa.-Route description:...

. It continues east until Iowa Highway 1, with which it runs concurrent briefly. It goes east until Houghton

Houghton, Iowa

Houghton is a city in Lee County, Iowa, United States. The population was 130 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Fort Madison–Keokuk, IA-MO Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Houghton is located at ....

, then intersects U.S. Highway 218 and Iowa Highway 27. It continues southeasterly to Wever on an alignment just south of the Skunk River

Skunk River

The Skunk River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the state of Iowa in the United States.It rises in two branches, the South Skunk and the North Skunk . The headwaters of the South Skunk are in Hamilton County in north central Iowa. It flows roughly due southward, to the west of...

and ends at U.S. Highway 61.

History

The current version of Iowa Highway 16 is the second occurrence of the route number in the state; the route number first occurred on a highway that was decommissioned in 1930 and ran between the Minnesota and Missouri state lines.

Major intersections