highway for a short distance. After its junction with State Highway 251 (MN 251), the highway angles north-northwestward again following the IC&E rail line, this time on the west side of the tracks. The highway enters Dodge County for less than a mile, then reaches Steele County, Blooming Prairie, and an eight-block-long concurrency with MN 30. It continues north-northwesterly after leaving Blooming Prairie, traveling through predominantly agricultural scenery. It passes by Oak Glen Lake before going through the unincorporated community of Bixby. After passing through the unincorporated community of Pratt, US 218 meets US 14 at a folded diamond interchange. US 218 runs westward concurrently with US 14, while its historic route through downtown Owatonna continues ahead as CR 48. After an interchange with CR 45 (former US 65), US 14/US 218 passes by Kaplan's Woods Park and reaches I-35, where US 218 ends. Legally, the Minnesota section of US 218 is defined as Route 40 in Minnesota Statutes § 161.114(2). History In 1913, work on the road that is now US 218 was begun. At this time it was called the Red Ball Route. It was called this because the original route was marked with poles which had red balls, in diameter, mounted on each side. In 1920, the Minnesota portion of the route was designated as Constitutional Route 40, as part of the Babcock Amendment that established the Minnesota trunk highway system. In Iowa, US 218 was extended from its previous southern terminus, at its intersection with U.S. 30 in Benton County, in 1934 when U.S. Highway 161 was split and renamed. The former U.S. 161 had extended from Dubuque, through Cedar Rapids, to Keokuk. After the split, the section of former US 161 from Dubuque to Cedar Rapids extended US 151 south, and the section of US 30 from the former terminus of US 218 to its intersection with the former US 161 in Cedar Rapids, along with the section of former US 161 from Cedar Rapids to Keokuk, extended US 218 south. In 1965, US 218 was rerouted along bypasses of Austin, Minnesota and Owatonna, Minnesota, the latter following a route that would later become the US 14 bypass of that city as well. Future The Iowa Department of Transportation has plans to rebuild the AOTS interchange with I-80 and I-380/US 218/Iowa 27 in Coralville. As the Eastern Iowa region has grown, traffic has increased, and