A section, the longest section to be opened at one time, connected the two sections in October 1964. The easternmost section of I-80, from US 61 to US 67 at the Mississippi River, opened a month later. This gave travelers nearly of uninterrupted freeway driving. Construction then moved to the western half of the state. A new section from US 71 west to US 59 north of Avoca opened in December 1965. A year later, the interstate was 90% completed when two stretches, a stretch from US 59 to I-29, which included of I-80N and the missing section between the western section and Des Moines, each opened to traffic. Sections of I-80 in the Council Bluffs area did not open for another couple years. A short section between Madison Avenue and US 6 opened in 1968. The interstate was completed from the eastern junction with I-29 to I-80N in late December 1969. On both sides of the state, the respective river crossings opened to traffic nearly two years later than the connecting highways. Near LeClaire, the Fred Schwengel Memorial Bridge over the Mississippi River opened in 1966 after the highway had been completed to US 67, which runs at the foot of the bridge, in 1964. The center span of the Mississippi River bridge was installed on June 29, 1966. The , piece was floated into place by barge. In Council Bluffs, the Missouri River crossing opened on December 15, 1972, while the approach to the bridge opened in November 1970. The Missouri River bridge's completion marked the end of the 14 years it took to construct Interstate 80. 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 ) in annual repairs. Funds for needed interstate repair became available in 1985 when President Ronald Reagan signed a bill that freed up $7 billion ($ in ) from the Highway Trust Fund, the national mechanism for funding repairs to the Interstate Highway System. Under the law, Iowa was slated to receive $200 million per year ($ in ) for its Interstates. 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.