Iowa Highway 316 (Iowa 316) is a

spur route A spur route is a short road forming a branch from a longer, more important road such as a freeway, Interstate Highway, or motorway. A Bypass route, bypass or beltway is not considered a spur route as it typically reconnects with another or the ...

in central

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. The route begins at

Iowa Highway 5 Iowa Highway 5 is a highway in southern Iowa. It is a north–south highway with a length of . It is the northernmost segment of a three-state "Highway 5" also involving Missouri Route 5 and Arkansas Highway 5. Portions of the highway ar ...

south of

Swan Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology) ...

and ends at the eastern city limits of Runnells. Prior to 2003, Iowa 316 extended north to

Iowa Highway 163 Iowa Highway 163 (Iowa 163) is a state highway (Iowa), state highway that travels from U.S. Highway 69 (Iowa), U.S. Highway 69 in Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines to US 63 (IA), US 63 near Oskaloosa, Iowa, Oskaloosa. The Iowa Department of Transpor ...

north of Runnells, but that portion was turned over to Polk County. The highway's primary purpose is a crossing of the

Des Moines River The Des Moines River () is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the upper Midwestern United States that is approximately long from its farther headwaters.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe N ...

south of Runnells.

Route description

Iowa 316 begins at an intersection with

south of

. The first are in Warren County, while the next of the road form the

Warren Warren most commonly refers to: * Warren (burrow), a network dug by rabbits * Warren (name), a given name and a surname, including lists of persons so named Warren may also refer to: Places Australia * Warren (biogeographic region) * War ...

Marion Marion or MARION may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Marion (band), a British alternative rock group * ''Marion'' (miniseries), a 1974 miniseries * ''Marion'' (1920 film), an Italian silent film * ''Marion'' (2024 film), a UK short People a ...

county border. it crosses over a

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

line and turns into Warren County. For the rest of its length, the highway closely parallels these railroad tracks. Iowa 316 in Warren County is bordered to the south and east by the Middle River and to the north and east by the

, and occasionally, Lake Red Rock. The area north of the highway serves as an overflow basin for Lake Red Rock, which is formed by a dam downstream near

Pella Pella () is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It served as the capital of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. Currently, it is located 1 km outside the modern town of Pella ...

. The highway and the railroad tracks approach the main channel on a

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet T ...

. The highway crosses the main channel at the Warren /

Polk DNA polymerase kappa is a DNA polymerase that in humans is encoded by the ''POLK'' gene. It is involved in translesion synthesis DNA repair is a collection of processes by which a cell (biology), cell identifies and corrects damage to the ...

county line, on a simple

girder bridge A girder bridge is a bridge that uses girders as the means of supporting its deck. The two most common types of modern steel girder bridges are plate and box. The term "girder" is often used interchangeably with "beam" in reference to bridge d ...

, while the adjacent railroad crosses on an over-deck

truss bridge A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements, typically straight, may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

. It continues north into Polk County on another causeway for , where it curves to the northwest towards Runnells. At the Runnells city limits, Iowa 316 ends abruptly, but the highway continues as McKinney Street.

History

In 1935, Iowa 316 began as a

from U.S. Highway 163 (US 163) south to Runnells. In 1937, US 163 became

. It was extended south to

in the early 1980s, appearing on the state map by 1983. In 2003, the north of Runnells were turned over to Polk County. The southern portion of Iowa 316 was kept because it is an important crossing of the

Major intersections

References

External links

{{commons category-inline, Iowa Highway 316

316 __NOTOC__ Year 316 ( CCCXVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sabinus and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 1069 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 316 f ...