Iowa Highway 21
# Iowa Highway 21

Iowa Highway 21 (Iowa 21) is a state highway that runs from north to south in central Iowa. It has a length of 97 miles (156 km). Iowa 21 begins at Iowa 149 west of Hedrick and ends at a freeway interchange with U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) in Waterloo.

## Route description

Iowa 21 begins one mile (1.6 km) west of Hedrick and goes north through Delta before intersecting Iowa 92. It proceeds through What Cheer before intersecting Iowa 22 west of Thornburg. It continues north to Deep River where it intersects Iowa 85. After passing through Guernsey, it then intersects Interstate 80, then meets US 6. It overlaps with U.S. 6 going eastward, then turns north near Victor. It then intersects Iowa 212 before entering Belle Plaine, then intersects US 30. It goes north to Dysart, where it turns west, overlapping with Iowa 8. It then turns north and ends at US 20 at the southern city limit of Waterloo.

## History

The current version of Iowa 21 is the second occurrence of the route number in the state. The first one went north from Ida Grove to the Minnesota border and was eventually replaced by US 59.

The current Iowa 21 was created in October 1934 and went between Victor and Dysart. It was extended south in 1939 to from Victor to Iowa 92, north from Dysart to U.S. 20 in Waterloo in 1969, and south again from Iowa 92 to Iowa 149 in 1980.

## Major intersections

| County | Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Keokuk | Van Buren–Plank township line | 0.000 | 0.000 | Iowa 149 – Hedrick | |
| Keokuk | Delta | 12.314 | 19.817 | Iowa 92 – Sigourney, Oskaloosa | |
| Keokuk | Thornburg | 20.311 | 32.687 | Iowa 22 east – Thornburg | |
| Poweshiek | Deep River Township | 28.958 | 46.603 | Iowa 85 west / CR F52 east – Deep River, Millersburg | |
| Poweshiek | Warren Township | 37.115 | 59.731 | I-80 – Des Moines, Davenport | |
| Poweshiek | Warren Township | 40.619 | 65.370 | US 6 west – Grinnell | Southern end of US 6 overlap |
| Iowa | Hartford Township | 44.852 | 72.182 | US 6 east – Marengo | Northern end of US 6 overlap |
| Iowa | Honey Creek Township | 52.030 | 83.734 | Iowa 212 east – Marengo | |
| Tama–Benton county line | York–Kane township line | 60.801 | 97.850 | US 30 – Tama, Cedar Rapids | |
| Tama–Benton county line | Dysart | 75.773 | 121.945 | Iowa 8 east / CR V37 north – Vinton | Southern end of Iowa 8 overlap |
| Tama | Clark Township | 76.262 | 122.732 | Iowa 8 west – Traer | Northern end of Iowa 8 overlap |
| Black Hawk | Waterloo | 97.152 | 156.351 | US 20 / Iowa 27 – Waterloo, Dubuque, Fort Dodge | |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus ||||||
