Official: West Dodge Expressway

Trains, Planes, and Automobiles (and Streetcars!).

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Brad
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Re: Official: West Dodge Expressway

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Shot this last Monday. Thought we were going to have a great sunset, but other than that purple sliver on the horizon, we never got any good colors.

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MTO
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Re: Official: West Dodge Expressway

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MAPA should buy that one it look awesome.
15-17, 26, 32
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Brad
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Re: Official: West Dodge Expressway

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Thanks
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RockHarbor
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Re: Official: West Dodge Expressway

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Wow...that is a neat photo of the West Dodge expressway. I can't imagine where you stood to even get that. It almost looks like you could have stood on the shoulder on another ramp. Or, maybe zoomed your lense while standing on the hillside (sloping up to the dealerships)?

I like the better traffic flow, but I just don't care for it (like many others). If they only would have simply built an exit at 114th. I don't like an elevated expressway, on pillars, going up and down over our rolling hills, in our suburban landscape. I also don't like how the "village" of office buildings at 114th & Dodge are not as aesthetically appreciated now (imo) being higher up, eye-level with them.

I think I'll like it better when/if they start building more larger buildings around it -- like the Ameritrade. I also would love a E-W line of immense, tall freeway lights, centered on the lower Dodge median, through that area. But, I'm sure that won't ever happen...
I can get pushed out because I'm "too much" for some. Then, an observer of me comes suddenly swooping in to "fill my shoes." People are always more accepting of the new one, because their feathers aren't truly ruffled by them. (Yawn) I can count on it every time.
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Re: Official: West Dodge Expressway

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This is more what I mean... With bigger buildings around the elevated expressway, and tall lights in the center, I think it all helps with the monstrosity of it all, and it will become more balanced one of these days (hopefully). If like this, I would actually be more excited about it. ***Brad: I hope it is OK I messed w/ your West O. photo in Photoshop. It isn't something I would usually do. If not, I won't do it again. Thanks...!***
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I can get pushed out because I'm "too much" for some. Then, an observer of me comes suddenly swooping in to "fill my shoes." People are always more accepting of the new one, because their feathers aren't truly ruffled by them. (Yawn) I can count on it every time.
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Coyote
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Re: Official: West Dodge Expressway

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RockHarbor wrote:This is more what I mean... With bigger buildings around the elevated expressway, and tall lights in the center, I think it all helps with the monstrosity of it all, and it will become more balanced one of these days (hopefully). If like this, I would actually be more excited about it. ***Brad: I hope it is OK I messed w/ your West O. photo in Photoshop. It isn't something I would usually do. If not, I won't do it again. Thanks...!***
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The larger building in the middle 'could' be a possibility for a new Cox Communications building on their present site, and the one on the right could be a new 'Heights Apartment Complex' on the SE corner of 120th and Dodge. And even the one on the left could be a new Centris Credit Union building... However displacing present businesses until these were built would cause headaches, plus putting extra traffic on roads that were never meant to handle that type of volume would cause infrastructure conundrums. To demolish and build just for better/higher/more compact structures is not very economical here.
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RockHarbor
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Re: Official: West Dodge Expressway

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Coyote wrote:
RockHarbor wrote: The larger building in the middle 'could' be a possibility for a new Cox Communications building on their present site, and the one on the right could be a new 'Heights Apartment Complex' on the SE corner of 120th and Dodge. And even the one on the left could be a new Centris Credit Union building... However displacing present businesses until these were built would cause headaches, plus putting extra traffic on roads that were never meant to handle that type of volume would cause infrastructure conundrums. To demolish and build just for better/higher/more compact structures is not very economical here.
Yeah, I hear ya. I just have looked at that area, and have thought how it would be cool to tear-out some of that low-rise stuff for bigger buildings around that elevated freeway, as well as over in Old Mill. I just want bigger, taller, beefier, chunkier buildings. Sometimes, I get tired of Omaha always having 2-5 story buildings in our suburbs, when Dallas & Denver have 10-15 story buildings all over. Like, you point out it wouldn't work for Omaha to have those size buildings there, but Houston and Dallas have busy, wide freeways in the suburbs lined with tower after tower -- with low-rise subdivisions adjacent to them. (For example, look at the suburban Galleria area of both towns.) So, shouldn't we do something here, to allow for bigger structures?

Go figure...we're a much smaller metro. Maybe someday. :)
I can get pushed out because I'm "too much" for some. Then, an observer of me comes suddenly swooping in to "fill my shoes." People are always more accepting of the new one, because their feathers aren't truly ruffled by them. (Yawn) I can count on it every time.
Omaha_corn_burner
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Re: Official: West Dodge Expressway

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RockHarbor wrote:I like the better traffic flow, but I just don't care for it (like many others). If they only would have simply built an exit at 114th. I don't like an elevated expressway, on pillars, going up and down over our rolling hills, in our suburban landscape. I also don't like how the "village" of office buildings at 114th & Dodge are not as aesthetically appreciated now (imo) being higher up, eye-level with them.

I think I'll like it better when/if they start building more larger buildings around it -- like the Ameritrade.
As somebody who uses the expressway about 300 days per year, I completely disagree with you. It has helped enormously with traffic. I don't care what it looks like, it could be painted pink with neon signs all over it. Driving through 114th and Dodge back in the day was horrible! :grr:
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RockHarbor
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Re: Official: West Dodge Expressway

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Omaha_corn_burner wrote:
RockHarbor wrote:I like the better traffic flow, but I just don't care for it (like many others). If they only would have simply built an exit at 114th. I don't like an elevated expressway, on pillars, going up and down over our rolling hills, in our suburban landscape. I also don't like how the "village" of office buildings at 114th & Dodge are not as aesthetically appreciated now (imo) being higher up, eye-level with them.

I think I'll like it better when/if they start building more larger buildings around it -- like the Ameritrade.
As somebody who uses the expressway about 300 days per year, I completely disagree with you. It has helped enormously with traffic. I don't care what it looks like, it could be painted pink with neon signs all over it. Driving through 114th and Dodge back in the day was horrible! :grr:
I hear ya. It was horrible! I can remember that.

I don't think you actually disagree with me too much. I mentioned how I like the better traffic flow -- which you agree with. I mentioned how I don't like the look of it in a suburbanscape -- which you don't care about it either way (it sounds like). The one thing we may disagree on is an exit at 114th & Dodge. If I remember right, they simply did not build that exit there because they would have had to shut-down that "Million Dollar McDonalds" on that corner. So, I always think: "Because of a McDonalds, we got an elevated eyesore through suburbia, and a mouse-maze of ramps?!" That's where I'm coming from. I would have rather had West Dodge follow its usual low, on-the-ground course through that area w/ an exit at 114th -- which would match the exits at 120th, 132nd, 144th, and so on.

I also enjoy the pleasing batch of office buildings at 114th & Dodge when I'm sitting lower. Now, there's a freeway over me, and I'm sitting in a shadow. I also don't like being on the elevated lanes, when you start going back uphill just west of 114th. Seriously, all the cars are heading straight towards the sky at an angle -- like the starting climb on a roller coaster. It makes me a little nervous.
I can get pushed out because I'm "too much" for some. Then, an observer of me comes suddenly swooping in to "fill my shoes." People are always more accepting of the new one, because their feathers aren't truly ruffled by them. (Yawn) I can count on it every time.
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BRoss
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Re: Official: West Dodge Expressway

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It was actually more than just closing the McDonalds. The main issue was that the interchange would have been too close to 120th and Old Mill and traffic flow would have been terrible through that area. We see this with 132nd/Boys Town/144th. Traffic always gets down to a crawl around that area and Old Mill/114th/120th would have been even worse.
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Re: Official: West Dodge Expressway

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HR Paperstacks wrote:It was actually more than just closing the McDonalds. The main issue was that the interchange would have been too close to 120th and Old Mill and traffic flow would have been terrible through that area. We see this with 132nd/Boys Town/144th. Traffic always gets down to a crawl around that area and Old Mill/114th/120th would have been even worse.
Yeah, I bet there would have been a crunch there with an exit, like you said. That's exactly what happens when a major street is turned into a freeway (like Dodge), and the important, busy, established interchanges of commerce & business are simply not spaced-out far enough to allow room for those enter/exit ramps when the freeway is created.

That's probably the best thing they could do there -- what they did. And, what is done is done. And, I'm not here to be negative, or to complain. I just don't care for it, like a lot of people. (Again, I think bigger buildings around it will help someday). I just feel like between that freeway, the odd backside of the Ameritrade Building in Old Mill, the odd element a top the UP Building, and the Con Agra campus, I just question my hometown's judgment sometimes, to be honest.

There's nothing really in Des Moines that makes me go "Huh?" (The ONLY thing I can think of is: I'm not sure I 100% like their arched, freeway-crossing bridges being blue & white.) Most of what goes up in Omaha I think is great, and I agree w/ what the architect/designer/engineer did, or has planned. But, once in awhile, I just don't get it.

(Would Des Moines approve a suburban campus downtown -- no matter what corporate top executive fussed for it? Would Des Moines approve the urban-looking, speckled, green Ameritrade Building squeezed into an 80's West Des Moines business park? Would Des Moines approve an elevated expressway running through West Des Moines? Ect. I'm not so sure they would. Then, why Omaha? Des Moines, to me, seems to have more a level-headed & careful mindset at ALL times, a firm stance, and a solid sense of what design works there, and what doesn't. Just my perception.)
I can get pushed out because I'm "too much" for some. Then, an observer of me comes suddenly swooping in to "fill my shoes." People are always more accepting of the new one, because their feathers aren't truly ruffled by them. (Yawn) I can count on it every time.
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Brad
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Re: Official: West Dodge Expressway

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RockHarbor wrote:Wow...that is a neat photo of the West Dodge expressway. I can't imagine where you stood to even get that. It almost looks like you could have stood on the shoulder on another ramp. Or, maybe zoomed your lense while standing on the hillside (sloping up to the dealerships)? .
Thanks. Yes, I was up in the dealership parking lot, however the dealership is long gone, its now an NP Dodge Office.
RockHarbor wrote:***Brad: I hope it is OK I messed w/ your West O. photo in Photoshop. It isn't something I would usually do. If not, I won't do it again. Thanks...!***
No Problem.

As far as development goes, Jeff and Trenton mentioned on Grow Omaha in the past few weeks that they expect more redevelopment in this area. Something about real-estate prices around 114th and dodge have gone way up recently.
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Re: Official: West Dodge Expressway

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Brad wrote:
RockHarbor wrote:Wow...that is a neat photo of the West Dodge expressway. I can't imagine where you stood to even get that. It almost looks like you could have stood on the shoulder on another ramp. Or, maybe zoomed your lense while standing on the hillside (sloping up to the dealerships)? .
Thanks. Yes, I was up in the dealership parking lot, however the dealership is long gone, its now an NP Dodge Office.
RockHarbor wrote:***Brad: I hope it is OK I messed w/ your West O. photo in Photoshop. It isn't something I would usually do. If not, I won't do it again. Thanks...!***
No Problem.

As far as development goes, Jeff and Trenton mentioned on Grow Omaha in the past few weeks that they expect more redevelopment in this area. Something about real-estate prices around 114th and dodge have gone way up recently.
Oh, wow...it looks like you are lower than the elevation of those dealerships (or the NP Dodge office) to me. Thanks for being easy-going about me manipulating the photo...

On new possible development: That's so great to hear. That area, situated now in the center of Omaha, and the criss-crossing of major traffic arteries, is probably the most prime area for suburban office space -- location-wise.

I always compare Omaha and Des Moines, and it seems like we just have more challenging urban "puzzles" here to solve than they do -- as far as I can notice. On their western, growing edge, the interstate runs straight west of town, and is lined nicely with suburban office buildings (like West Dodge is for us), and all they have to do is keep adding more on down the road. (In fact, they've added a new Grand Prairie Parkway that will likely spur much new development along I-80. It looks really nice.) We, on the other hand, have an interstate that diagonals out of town quickly, immediately snaking into another county. So, if Douglas County wants new office buildings adjacent to a freeway, we have to put them along West Dodge Road, or new business parks will have to be put-in on the north portion of the I-680 loop, or we have to start thinking about redoing areas around I-80 & 'L', or Old Mill & Regency.

Now, we are at the subject of Old Mill: Des Moines doesn't have an established, major business park, with now-unworthy, low-rise buildings from decades back, sitting on absolute prime, perfect land in the center of town where two major highways criss-cross, like we do. Not to mention, a business park that is hemmed-in by a creek, and has traffic issues to consider before changing things too much. That's all a challenge to work with! I have to chuckle...good ole' Omaha. It is simply how our town unfolded.
I can get pushed out because I'm "too much" for some. Then, an observer of me comes suddenly swooping in to "fill my shoes." People are always more accepting of the new one, because their feathers aren't truly ruffled by them. (Yawn) I can count on it every time.
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Re: Official: West Dodge Expressway

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Was out on West Dodge west of 156th for the first time in a long time and noticed the speed limit is now 70 out there! That's pretty bold! Anybody know when this changed/if its 70 all the way out to Fremont/if this was a result of the speed limit raising idea that was out there not that long ago?
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Re: Official: West Dodge Expressway

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Busguy2010 wrote: Sun Aug 19, 2018 10:20 pm Was out on West Dodge west of 156th for the first time in a long time and noticed the speed limit is now 70 out there! That's pretty bold! Anybody know when this changed/if its 70 all the way out to Fremont/if this was a result of the speed limit raising idea that was out there not that long ago?
Changed this summer. I80 through the city got bumped up 5 MPH to 65 too.

I don't think they changed West Dodge east of 156th unless I missed it, the drop from 70 to 55 will probably be a big speed trap going forward.
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Re: Official: West Dodge Expressway

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Busguy2010 wrote: Sun Aug 19, 2018 10:20 pm Was out on West Dodge west of 156th for the first time in a long time and noticed the speed limit is now 70 out there! That's pretty bold! Anybody know when this changed/if its 70 all the way out to Fremont/if this was a result of the speed limit raising idea that was out there not that long ago?
It was just a few weeks ago. Around mid to end of July. I remember seeing the interstates change first and then Dodge changed about a week or two later.
iamjacobm wrote: Sun Aug 19, 2018 10:59 pm I don't think they changed West Dodge east of 156th unless I missed it, the drop from 70 to 55 will probably be a big speed trap going forward.
I doubt they'll change this section. The interchanges are too close together and it's hard enough getting on from 144th. They really should drop Dodge down to 65 between 168th and 156th to prepare people for the change more. I agree that a 15 MPH drop is too much. At least on I-80, they used to drop it from 75 to 65, then to 60.
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