text: u.s. route 161 u.s. highway 161 ( us 161 ) was a u.s. highway in iowa that ran from keokuk to dubuque by way of cedar rapids . it was designated in 1925 and signed in 1926 along two primary highways . the route began at the missouri river with us 61 southwest of keokuk ran north through mount pleasant and iowa city to cedar rapids . there , it turned to the northeast through anamosa and monticello towards dubuque . the route ended at us 61 in key west , a few miles west of dubuque . the route changed very little while it was in service . it was paved from end to end by the summer of 1932 . in january 1938 , it was removed from the us highway system . from keokuk to cedar rapids , it was replaced by us 218 , which was extended southward . from cedar rapids to key west it was replaced by us 151 , which was extended westward . route description us 161 began on the us 61 bridge over the des moines river , which represents the border between missouri and iowa . the two routes ran concurrently within one - half mile ( 800 m ) of the mississippi river until they reached keokuk , where the two routes turned to the northeast and turned away from the river . as the highway curved to the north , it passed the now - unincorporated towns of and . southwest of montrose , us 61 split off to the northeast to run along the banks of the mississippi . after the us 61 split , us 161 continued northeast towards along main street where it met iowa highway 3 ( iowa 3 ) . north of , the highway diverted away from the keokuk and northwestern railroad , which the highway had theretofore closely paralleled the railway . as the highway headed due north towards mount pleasant , it passed many small communities , but did not enter any of them . west of west point , it intersected iowa 103 , which served as a shortcut to fort madison until 2003 . iowa 16 intersected the highway in northern lee county . shortly after it entered henry county , us 161 intersected iowa 125 , a short spur highway that connected salem to the primary highway system . the road headed due north , jogging to the east only slightly to cross the skunk river . in mount pleasant , it intersected us 34 and iowa 133 . further north , it briefly overlapped iowa 78 near olds . in washington county , us 161 only intersected two primary highways : iowa 2 near ainsworth and iowa 22 near riverside . in johnson county , the highway entered the iowa city area from the south . iowa 1 joined us 161 from the southwest and the two routes briefly headed north together . at the banks of the iowa river , they were joined by us 6 , and all three routes crossed the river . us 6 split away from the two routes near the university of iowa . a few blocks north of campus , iowa 1 split away to the east . a few more blocks north was the southern end of iowa 261 . north of iowa city , the highway crossed back over the iowa river and headed to the northwest towards north liberty , where it intersected iowa 153 . us 161 continued to the northwest before turning north at its last iowa river crossing . it passed through and entered linn county . it entered the cedar rapids area from the southwest side , where it intersected us 30 and iowa 64 . the three highways headed to the northeast towards and crossed the cedar river before entering downtown . east of downtown , us 30 split away to the east near the intersection with iowa 11 . us 161 and iowa 64 continued northeast towards marion , where they met iowa 94 near its downtown . outside of marion , they intersected iowa 13 . southwest of anamosa , the two routes met the northern end of iowa 261 . closer to anamosa , they crossed the wapsipinicon river before iowa 64 split away to the east . now heading northeast , us 161 traversed the farmland of jones county . in monticello , it met the ends of iowa 38 and iowa 113 . it crossed the south fork river and headed towards cascade , where it crossed the north fork of the river . at cascade , us 161 met the ends of iowa 136 and iowa 188 . now in dubuque county , the highway continued northeast past the new abbey . the route ended at an intersection with us 61 in key west , a few miles west of dubuque . history us 161 was an original u.s. highway ; it and the rest of the system were designated in 1925 and were signed by the summer of 1926 . us 161 replaced parts of two primary roads in eastern iowa – primary road no. 40 , which was known as the red ball route , from keokuk to cedar rapids , and primary road no. 28 , parts of which were known as the red x route . the northernmost forty miles ( 64 km ) of us 161 were a part of a territorial and military road from dubuque to iowa city . this road , authorized by president martin van buren in 1839 , was known as dillon 's furrow , named after the dubuque merchant lyman dillon who surveyed the route and marked it with a furrow . upon designation , only a small portion of us 161 was paved , all of which was located in and around cedar rapids . a short section in keokuk and the remainder of the route north of cedar rapids was graveled , but not paved . a $ 100 million bond bill ( $ 1 . 38 billion in 2016 dollars ) passed and approved by a plebiscite in 1928 allowed paving to commence in earnest . the entire routing of us 161 was to be completed within six years . paving work progressed faster in some counties than it did in others . by 1930 , a hard - surfaced road existed from the missouri state line to olds in henry county ( 55 mi or 89 km ) and from iowa city to northeast of cascade in dubuque county ( 75 mi or 121 km ) . all 185 miles ( 298 km ) of the route were paved by june 1932 . in january 1938 , us 161 was removed from the u.s. highway system . from keokuk to cedar rapids , it was replaced by us 218 , which had previously ended at us 30 south of vinton . us 218 was extended eastward along us 30 and then southward towards keokuk . from cedar rapids to key west , it was replaced by us 151 , which had previously only existed in wisconsin . us 151 was routed westward from madison along us 18 to , then along us 118 to , then along us 61 into iowa to key west , and then along us 161 to cedar rapids . major intersections