Proposed changes to Driftless Area Scenic Byway include 44-mile extension, slight route variance in Allamakee County


The map above shows the existing route of the original Driftless Area Scenic Byway (dark green) along with the proposed changes to the route (highlighted in yellow). The change highlighted in brighter yellow to the right of map shows a slight modification to the byway that replaces a graveled portion of the route along County Highway A52/Sweet Ridge Drive with a paved route along Lafayette Ridge Drive to continue to connect the Lansing Harpers Road and Great River Road segments of the byway. The larger, darker yellow addition to the byway highlighted in the center and toward the left of the above map image indicates the proposed extension of the Driftless Area Scenic Byway into and through Winneshiek County, including Decorah. It is hoped to have the new byway changes signed by the Iowa Department of Transportation by late summer/fall of 2017. Submitted image.

The above image is used on all signage designating the Driftless Area Scenic Byway in northeast Iowa. The byway will be undergoing some route and extension changes within the next year. Submitted image.

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, along with Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) Director Paul Trombino, recently announced the designation of three new Iowa Byways and the modification of three existing byways in the state, including the extension of the Driftless Area Scenic Byway (DASB) in northeast Iowa and a slight modification to that same route to replace a graveled portion between Lansing and Harpers Ferry with a paved roadway along the route.

Independently ranked as the “most scenic byway in Iowa” the 100-mile Driftless Area Scenic Byway currently weaves through Allamakee County. The slight modification in the far eastern portion of the county will change the route from an original graveled portion along the County Highway A52/Sweet Ridge Drive gravel road between Lansing Harpers Road and Great River Road a bit further to the north to, instead, utilize the paved Lafayette Ridge Drive connecting those two roadways.

The extension also approved to the Driftless Area Scenic Byway through Winneshiek County will add 44 miles to the route. Scenic Byway Coordinator Jared Nielsen from Northeast Iowa RC&D confirmed that the route will travel west along County Highway A26 across the northern portion of Winneshiek County before dropping south on North Winn Road and Highway 52, then head east again at Decorah.

Nielsen noted, “The route brings visitors right into the heart of Decorah along Water Street before taking them back to Allamakee County via Old Stage Road.” Nielsen worked with the local Driftless Area Scenic Byway Board to develop and propose the byway extension to the Iowa DOT.

DASB Board Chair Bruce Palmborg from Lansing noted, “This extension to the DASB is a strategic move on the part of the DASB partners. We know 75% of people looking for information on the Iowa Tourism website are looking for information about Iowa’s scenic byways. We want those visitors to spend as much time and money in northeast Iowa as possible. Scenic Byway visitors typically spend at least four days traveling a byway. Extending our byway into Winneshiek County and Decorah helps us keep them engaged.”

The Driftless Scenic Byway Board (DASB) of Directors is currently comprised of stakeholders and citizens from Allamakee County and the communities that the byway travels through. Nielsen noted that the DASB Board will now be expanded to include Winneshiek County partners. The DASB Board has already started this process by approving Lee Bjerke, Winneshiek County Engineer, and Charlene Selbee, Executive Director for Winneshiek County Convention and Visitors Bureau, to the Board.

Lora Friest, Executive Director for Northeast Iowa RC&D noted, “The DASB Board is one of the most active scenic byway boards in Iowa. One of their greatest strengths has always been the participation of the county engineer, tourism, economic development and community leaders. Bringing these people together to make decisions that help improve our transportation infrastructure and our economy is the key.

"The new Winneshiek County representatives on the DASB board will continue to foster that dynamic and result in greater benefits for the all the DASB partners, including Winneshiek County, Decorah and all our small businesses. We will be working to increase tourism flow between the Great River Road and Decorah and vice versa. Allamakee and Winneshiek Counties have much in common, including strong natural resources, local foods. local artists and dynamic small businesses. This will be a great partnership.”

Nielsen noted that the Iowa DOT is expected to sign the route extension as early as the summer or fall of 2017, saying, “We know the Iowa DOT signing process can get drawn out but we are hoping that they are able to meet their goal of summer/fall of 2017 so that we can add the extension into our promotional materials.”

The new signs, which will have the same design as those on the existing portions of the route, were originally designed with input from the DASB Board of Directors. They depict colorful fall leaves and were developed a few years ago when Iowa was one of the first states in the nation to develop artistic, coordinated, distinct graphic designs for all of its byways.

The application that was submitted to the Iowa DOT for consideration noted the following:
• The proposed byway extension will take visitors past numerous businesses and attractions outside the Decorah city limits, providing opportunities to experience byway activities along the entire length of the route extension. These additional activities will not only increase the quality and quantity of “things to do” along the DASB, but they will also help to increase the visitors’ length of stay, draw byway travelers back for additional visits and provide greater opportunities for regional exploration.
• An additional benefit from the proposed route extension is that it will increase public access and awareness to some of Iowa’s most treasured natural resources. Notable resources along the route extension include: the Upper Iowa River; the number-one and number-two most visited trout streams in the state (North Bear and South Bear Creek); several springs, including the second largest spring in Iowa (Siewers Spring); one of the largest ice caves in the midwestern United States (Decorah Ice Cave State Preserve); a community with as many or more acres of parkland per-capita than any other city in the United States (Decorah); access to a rare algific talus slope (Phelps Park); and 44 miles of scenic roadway that features rural landscape, limestone bluffs, forests and contoured agriculture.
• The route extension will also tie together existing man-made resources and attractions. Notable attractions along the route extension include: one of only three fish hatcheries in Iowa (Decorah Fish Hatchery); the largest nongovernmental seed bank in the world (Seed Savers); a museum housing America’s oldest and largest collection of authentic Norwegian-American artifacts in the world (Vesterheim); the largest cooperatively-owned grocery store in northeast Iowa (Oneota Community Co-op); the studio of internationally recognized artist Brian Andreas’ (StoryPeople); two award-winning wineries (Empty Nest and Winneshiek Wildberry); and two breweries (Toppling Goliath and Pulpit Rock).

For more information, contact Driftless Area Scenic Byway Coordinator Jared Nielsen at 563-864-7112 or visit www.northeastiowarcd.org.