in November 1970. The Missouri River bridge's completion marked the end of the 14 years it took to construct I-80. Reconstruction As early as the 1980s, traffic levels on I-80 reached the road's design capacity. As a result, the highway required significant repairs for which Iowa's Interstate maintenance program lacked funding. A section from CR F90 between Earlham and the western junction with I-35 needed $500,000 in annual repairs (equivalent to $ in ). Funds for needed Interstate repair became available in 1985 when President Ronald Reagan signed a bill that freed up $7 billion from the Highway Trust Fund (equivalent to $ in ), the national mechanism for funding repairs to the Interstate Highway System. Under the law, Iowa was slated to receive $200 million per year for its Interstates (equivalent to $ in ). Reconstruction across the state took place in phases. Road crews worked in roughly zones divided into smaller sections. In each section, one direction of highway was closed while the other direction became a two-lane, two-direction road. When one section was completed, the crew would move on to the next section, preventing the entire zone from being closed at once. Iowa was not alone in the required repairs to I-80. The American Automobile Association reported that nearly every state along I-80 had reports of road work. In Iowa, though, there were two sections in 1988 which were particularly troublesome for travelers. The I-680 interchange near Neola was closed, so I-680-bound traffic was forced to travel through Neola on Iowa 191 to reach that highway. Another bottleneck occurred near Williamsburg, where it was a two-lane road for . Another problem for travelers hoping to avoid the construction on I-80 was the lack of east–west, four-lane highways in Iowa. At the time, the nearest Interstates, I-70 and I-90 were far across state lines in Missouri and Minnesota, respectively. One traveler, interviewed by The Des Moines Register, who was traveling back to Iowa from New York, sought to avoid I-80's construction woes entirely by driving through Canada. Exit list See also 80/35 Music Festival References External links Interstate 80 on The Iowa Highways Page Iowa 80 truck stop – World's Largest Truck Stop Iowa 80 Transportation in Pottawattamie County, Iowa Transportation in Cass County, Iowa Transportation in Adair County, Iowa Transportation in Madison County, Iowa Transportation in Dallas County, Iowa Transportation in Polk County, Iowa Transportation in Jasper