Iowa Highway 330

A 33-mile-long state highway in central Iowa, Iowa State Highway 330 runs northeasterly from near Mingo (outside of Des Moines in Jasper County) past Albion, to just north of Marshalltown in Marshall County.[1] Originally the two-lane, unpaved Route 88 in the 1930s, Highway 330 is now a four-lane divided expressway along much of its length. The non-expressway sections are, or will be, super two highways.

As an unusual (and originally underutilized) "diagonal" highway in a strongly grid-based region, a persistent rumor claims that the highway was originally run through as a pork barrel project for the personal benefit of a Marshall County state legislator who wanted a quicker route to the Iowa General Assembly.

The highway was originally designated as Highway 330 and paved in the late 1940s. Before then, it was called Iowa 88 and was largely unpaved. In 1969 the route was extended southward to its current terminus. In 1989, it was re-routed to bypass Marshalltown. In 2002, the twenty miles closest to its southwestern end were upgraded to expressway status.