Iowa Highway 22 (Iowa 22) is a 98-mile (158 km) west–east state highway that traverses primarily rural areas in east-central Iowa. The highway begins near Thornburg at an intersection with Iowa Highway 21 and ends in southwestern Davenport, at U.S. Highway 61 Business.
To locals, Iowa Highway 22 is most notable as one of two main highways connecting Muscatine and Davenport (U.S. Highway 61 being the other). This 24-mile (39 km) eastern section of highway follows the Mississippi River.
The segment of the highway between Muscatine and Davenport is part of the Great River Road.
History
Iowa Highway 22 was designated in 1926, and followed what is now U.S. Highway 61 between Muscatine and Davenport, passing through Blue Grass; U.S. 61 followed the Mississippi River route at the time. The highway was extended to Thornburg in 1931.
For years, several sections of Iowa Highway 22 was either gravel or had a bituminous surface. One of these sections — the section between Muscatine and Blue Grass — was paved in 1957, the same year U.S. 61 and Iowa Highway 22 switched routes; U.S. 61 now went through Blue Grass, while Iowa Highway 22 now followed the Mississippi River through Buffalo.