In Iowa, US Route 136 only traverses east-west across the very southeastern corner of the state. US Route 136 is one of the northernmost east-west highways throughout northern Missouri, sitting just south of the Iowa border, but it jumps over to Keokuk to reach a bridge over the Mississippi River, into Illinois. US Route 136 spends a lousy three-mile distance in Iowa. It leaves the northeastern corner of Missouri concurrent with US Route 61, continuing northeasterly to quickly reach a junction where US Route 61 splits away. As US Route 61 heads north to bypass Keokuk to the west, US Route 136 penetrates straight into downtown Keokuk. It turns from northeasterly to southeasterly, onto a street that carried the southern extent of US Route 218 up to that turning point. Soon after, US Route 136 crosses a bridge over the Mississippi River into Hamilton, Illinois.
My photo of US Route 136 in Iowa comes from its junction with US Route 61, just west of Keokuk. At the intersection depicted, US Route 136 and US Route 61 split after crossing into Iowa from Missouri together. The photo faces north at signage showing the turning options to southbound traffic on US Route 61. A left turn ahead puts travelers on US Route 136 east, into Keokuk; a right turn leads to the concurrent crossover into Missouri. This photo kicked off a northward drive across eastern Iowa on June 30, 2017. Back to the Iowa main page. Back to the home page.