(Radio Iowa) – Travel on the state’s roadways is up slightly this year. Stuart Anderson of the Iowa Department of Transportation briefed Transportation Commission members on Wednesday. “Year to date, we are up one tenth of a percent over last year,” he said, while the number of fatal traffic accidents has declined compared to this time a year ago.

Through Wednesday, 234 people had been killed in a wreck on an Iowa roadway. “Well below the five year average of 298,” Anderson said. “….It’s about 24% below…We still are on trend to have the lowest fatalities in a hundred years, so very good news from a safety perspective on of the state’s public road system.”

(Image from Iowa DOT’s camera along Interstate 235 in Des Moines)

The state saw 357 traffic deaths in 2024 and 379 in 2023.