Topic: Nebraska (Read 32972 times)

Revive 755 · « **on:** March 29, 2009, 11:53:09 PM »

I've done some research in university libraries lately, and found some good historical documents. First area of interest was freeway planning for Omaha, where it seems the only freeway cancellation was the West Expressway, which I've tried to map a couple proposed alignments here:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=117499567522166489363.00046643f294a5f56cb77&ll=41.282838,-96.065311&spn=0.100489,0.264359&z=13

The big find today was several corridor studies for unbuilt freeways and several modified expressway routes in Nebraska, which I've attempted to draw here:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=117499567522166489363.0004664a544f7f4301e74&ll=40.913513,-98.041992&spn=6.466272,16.918945&z=7

It's midly depressing to look through some of the individual corridor studies and compare them to what was built today. For example, US 77 between Lincoln and the Kansas border, although seemly downgraded to an expressway later on in the studies but still with many overpasses, would not have run through the small bergs of Cortland and Princeton as it does today, nor have a concurrency with NE 41. A US 281 freeway between Grand Island and Hastings would have been much better than the stoplight infested route it is today. The West Lincoln bypass would have either tied into I-180 near the US 6 overpass or had some sort of T-interchange with I-80 instead of the trumpet with 25 mph loop with many trucks and a short merging lane onto I-80. Then I have to wonder about the money wasted redoing many of these studies instead of protecting the corridors.

I'm guessing since the freeways were planned to be built to interstate standards that NDOR planned to seek interstate numbers for some of them.

Alps · « **Reply #1 on:** March 30, 2009, 06:14:39 PM »

Quote

I've done some research in university libraries lately, and found some good historical documents. First area of interest was freeway planning for Omaha, where it seems the only freeway cancellation was the West Expressway, which I've tried to map a couple proposed alignments here:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=117499567522166489363.00046643f294a5f56cb77&ll=41.282838,-96.065311&spn=0.100489,0.264359&z=13

Doesn't take much imagination to see what was planned to happen at the east end.

Chris · « **Reply #2 on:** March 31, 2009, 10:05:04 AM »

I-80 across Nebraska:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcWn4eCyAFo

Alex · « **Reply #3 on:** March 31, 2009, 12:08:11 PM »

We drove Interstate 80 in 2005 and went from misting rain to 95 degrees and blazing sun to random thunderstorms scattered about toward Wyoming.

Scott5114 · « **Reply #4 on:** March 31, 2009, 03:20:11 PM »

I had to do the portion of I-80 from York to North Platte with nothing but a classical music station to listen to. (I wasn't driving.) And I think Prairie Home Companion came on somewhere in there. Now that's torture.

J N Winkler · « **Reply #5 on:** April 05, 2009, 06:12:45 PM »

I have actually made a point of avoiding I-80 when I want to go across Nebraska. I have done SR 2 from Grand Island to beyond Alliance (the Sand Hills are well worth seeing, especially in low light) and US 26 from Ogallala to Scottsbluff via Bridgeport. There are several reasons for this:

* I have never been a fan of flat-country Interstate driving. (In fact I'm not a fan of Interstate clinching in general--as far as I'm concerned, John Steinbeck had it right when he characterized the Interstates as a way of getting all around the US without seeing America.)

* I-80 is actually fairly congested as rural Interstates go--even in the bits past Grand Island where NDOR doesn't anticipate widening for the next few decades.

* For me, diagrammatic junction signs are a highlight of any visit to Nebraska. I don't get to see these signs on Interstates.

corco · « **Reply #6 on:** April 05, 2009, 07:52:45 PM »

^^This is possibly the most accurate statement anyone has ever made ever.

Nebraska has a reputation as being "boring" but once you get off the freeway it's actually quite beautiful

Revive 755 · « **Reply #7 on:** April 06, 2009, 12:06:32 AM »

Quote

* I-80 is actually fairly congested as rural Interstates go--even in the bits past Grand Island where NDOR doesn't anticipate widening for the next few decades.

I agree that I-80 has a surprising amount of traffic for the amount of population along it. But if funding wasn't an issue, NDOR would be widening it past Grand Island. Last time I checked, long-range plan was to six lane it to near Kearney. But since the west end of the six lane section seems to keep moving west every time I check, I wouldn't be surprised if it is now planned for six lanes to I-76.

corco · « **Reply #8 on:** April 06, 2009, 12:16:37 AM »

Honestly it wouldn't hurt to 6 lane it clear to Cheyenne, Wyoming. The truck traffic is pretty heavy even from Cheyenne to I-76

Chris · « **Reply #9 on:** April 06, 2009, 10:04:25 AM »

Traffic volumes

The part west of Lincoln has only 25,000 - 8,000 AADT. You really not need 6 lanes for that amount of traffic.

Revive 755 · « **Reply #10 on:** April 06, 2009, 04:27:54 PM »

^ By the time NDOR even gets the funds to seriously consider widening out there, the traffic might be there. I think I-80 is one of those interstates that suffers from large seasonal fluctuations in traffic, so during vacation season it gets much closer to needing six lanes.

Then at NDOR's public meeting on the planned NE 2/US 75 SPUI at Nebraska City, I heard two things that indicate truck traffic might skyrocket on I-80 in the future. First there are supposed to be major problems and possible restrictions on I-70 west of Denver. Second, and more likely, truck traffic will drastically increase on NE 2 between I-80 and I-29 once the Lincoln bypass is complete. Whether this is new truck traffic or truck traffic that is currently taking a different routes I'm not sure.

Revive 755 · « **Reply #11 on:** July 01, 2009, 01:41:45 PM »

Article a few days ago mainly about the delaying of the South Lincoln Beltway, but there's extremely brief mention of having to update the environmental documents for a few other expressway projects, such as the Heartland Expressway and NE 35 corridor (Norfolk to Sioux City).

http://journalstar.com/articles/2009/06/27/news/local/doc4a4546aa21820955636759.txt

Sykotyk · « **Reply #12 on:** July 03, 2009, 12:43:10 PM »

If a truck is going from Wyoming to KC/STL/etc, I-80 to NE-2 to I-29 is the fastest way, even with all the traffic through Lincoln. So, any uptick would revolve around other means.

Now, a trucker won't take I-70 through western Colorado unless absolutely necessary, so the only issue would be: I-70 west to I-25 north to I-80 west, or I-70 west, to I-29 north to NE-2 west to I-80 west. Eliminate Lincoln, and that becomes the better way through.

Nebraska's stretch (and Iowa's) of I-80 are overloaded. Forget traffic counts, drive the road sometime. The problem isn't volume, it's the truck traffic. I-80 is a crucial shipping lane for points east and points west along the middle of the country. And from Joliet, IL west (aside from cities), it's two-lanes each way until just east of Sacramento.

Sure, the Nevada, Utah, Wyoming stretches are less congested, up until the I-80/I-76 split in Big Spring, Nebraska, the traffic chokes the road.

Sykotyk

Snappyjack · « **Reply #13 on:** July 03, 2009, 03:39:14 PM »

If you think I-80 through Nebraska is boring, give I-70 through Kansas a try. Ugh..

Chris · « **Reply #14 on:** July 03, 2009, 03:43:47 PM »

I love such freeways. Wyoming would probably a great place for me

corco · « **Reply #15 on:** July 04, 2009, 12:43:28 AM »

Quote from: Snappyjack on July 03, 2009, 03:39:14 PM

If you think I-80 through Nebraska is boring, give I-70 through Kansas a try. Ugh..

This a thousand times. Nebraska gets a bad rap but is actually a comparatively interesting state

andy3175 · « **Reply #16 on:** September 24, 2017, 12:09:00 AM »

Recent article on a slate of highway improvements across Nebraska, including a stated goal to complete the expressway network: http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/million-u-s-expressway-project-is-largest-of-highway-projects/article_eed48504-61db-11e7-8602-3f077f255f6c.html (article dated July 5, 2017)

Quote

Nebraska transportation officials announced plans Wednesday to forge ahead with a nearly $53 million segment of the U.S. 30 expressway this year.

The 3.1-mile segment between Rogers and North Bend, in Dodge County, is the largest of 100 highway projects that are to be let to contract during the fiscal year that began July 1.

It also is the only project of the year to be undertaken with Build Nebraska Act funds.

The act earmarks a quarter-cent of sales tax dollars to roads projects, with priority given to finishing the state expressway system and upgrading Interstate 80.

Repair and rebuilding of existing state roads and highways account for most of the projects listed in the State Department of Transportation’s 2018 Surface Transportation Program book. ...

But Schneweis said the same law that created the bank should accelerate construction on a four-lane expressway on U.S. 275 between Scribner and West Point.

That project will be the first undertaken with a “design-build” process — in which a single entity provides design and construction services — allowed under the Transportation Innovation Act, passed by the Legislature last year.

Schneweis said officials hope the new process will make it possible to start construction on the U.S. 275 expressway by 2019.

They said they hope construction will progress more quickly once it’s started by using a “2+2 system” for building the expressway. The system involves adding two lanes to the existing highway, rather than building an entirely new four-lane road.

Along with the U.S. 30 expressway segment, this year’s major projects include upgrading a 12.1-mile stretch of I-80 from Bushnell to the Wyoming state line. The upgrade is expected to cost about $46.7 million.

I found the Nebraska State Department of Transportation’s 2018 Surface Transportation Program book at http://dot.nebraska.gov/projects/publications/program-book/. A ton of planned and anticipated projects are listed in this document. Construction of the US 275 expressway (page 20), as well as portions of the Lincoln beltway (page 8), are included.

Brandon · « **Reply #17 on:** September 25, 2017, 01:39:26 PM »

Quote from: Sykotyk on July 03, 2009, 12:43:10 PM

If a truck is going from Wyoming to KC/STL/etc, I-80 to NE-2 to I-29 is the fastest way, even with all the traffic through Lincoln. So, any uptick would revolve around other means.

Now, a trucker won't take I-70 through western Colorado unless absolutely necessary, so the only issue would be: I-70 west to I-25 north to I-80 west, or I-70 west, to I-29 north to NE-2 west to I-80 west. Eliminate Lincoln, and that becomes the better way through.

Nebraska's stretch (and Iowa's) of I-80 are overloaded. Forget traffic counts, drive the road sometime. The problem isn't volume, it's the truck traffic. I-80 is a crucial shipping lane for points east and points west along the middle of the country. And from Joliet, IL west (aside from cities), it's two-lanes each way until just east of Sacramento.

Sure, the Nevada, Utah, Wyoming stretches are less congested, up until the I-80/I-76 split in Big Spring, Nebraska, the traffic chokes the road.

Sykotyk

Much agreed. It is the truck traffic that chokes these roads (even I-55 between Joliet and the Illinois suburbs of Saint Louis for that matter). The third lane that NDOR put in between Lincoln and Omaha makes a lot of difference. One can actually get around slower (read: speed limited) truck traffic. On the two-lane stretches, it can be a real bear until the trucks finally vacate the left lane.

80 only gets three lanes (or more) through Iowa City, Des Moines, Council Bluffs to Lincoln, and in Salt Lake west of here. East, it's also two-lanes from Lake Station to Toledo, then from Youngstown to somewhere in New Jersey.

Stephane Dumas · « **Reply #18 on:** July 03, 2020, 04:51:54 PM »

Time to revive this thread back from the dead.

I saw that video showing the construction of the South Lincoln Beltway filmed last May.

3467 · « **Reply #19 on:** July 05, 2020, 01:15:51 PM »

I don't think any of the Corridors 755 are busy enough for freeways. Nice to see them finish their system.
Illinois Missouri Iowa as well as PA and NY came out with post interstate plans in that same era. Did any of their neighbors except Iowa?

skluth · « **Reply #20 on:** July 05, 2020, 04:09:02 PM »

Nebraska has a nice web page for the Lincoln South Beltway. The project looks to be complete by the end of 2022.

captkirk_4 · « **Reply #21 on:** August 16, 2020, 03:41:20 PM »

Quote from: Scott5114 on March 31, 2009, 03:20:11 PM

I had to do the portion of I-80 from York to North Platte with nothing but a classical music station to listen to. (I wasn't driving.) And I think Prairie Home Companion came on somewhere in there. Now that's torture.

Yes, there's almost no radio stations in the rural parts of I-80 in Nebraska. My brother complained the only one was some AM station where they were yacking away about High School Football with the same enthusiasm usually reserved for the NFL. At least on I-70 there is a powerful AM signal coming out of Garden City with Limbaugh etc on that you can hear from Saline all the way into Colorado.

captkirk_4 · « **Reply #22 on:** August 17, 2020, 09:08:07 AM »

Quote from: skluth on July 05, 2020, 04:09:02 PM

Nebraska has a nice web page for the Lincoln South Beltway. The project looks to be complete by the end of 2022.

Definitely needed, I took Nebraska 2 coming up I 29 over to I-80 and made good time until entering Lincoln and entered this hellish urban stretch with endless stoplights. I checked on Google Maps and it looks like US77 going north from where the new highway ends is also not completely access controlled. I wonder if that is going to be improved all the way up to I-80 as well?

mvak36 · « **Reply #23 on:** August 17, 2020, 09:19:20 AM »

Quote from: captkirk_4 on August 17, 2020, 09:08:07 AM

Quote from: skluth on July 05, 2020, 04:09:02 PM
Nebraska has a nice web page for the Lincoln South Beltway. The project looks to be complete by the end of 2022.

Definitely needed, I took Nebraska 2 coming up I 29 over to I-80 and made good time until entering Lincoln and entered this hellish urban stretch with endless stoplights. I checked on Google Maps and it looks like US77 going north from where the new highway ends is also not completely access controlled. I wonder if that is going to be improved all the way up to I-80 as well?

Yes, that stretch of US77 is part of the Lincoln West Beltway project. I am not sure when construction on that will start.

There is also a proposed East Beltway but that's still in preliminary phases.

https://lincoln.ne.gov/city/ltu/projects/east-beltway/pdf/future-beltway-system.pdf

Stephane Dumas · « **Reply #24 on:** August 17, 2020, 02:39:42 PM »

I founded this video showing the Lincoln South Beltway posted on July 22.

News:

Author Topic: Nebraska (Read 32972 times)