The Great Platte River Road Archway

[midtown charlie]

Beauty is relative right???? In other words what one might find beautiful someone else might find ehhh okay.  To me, (my opinion of course) the sand hills is one of the most beautiful places on earth......yep........on earth.........I just love it.  Every time I visit I think WOW again.  It is sad and wonderful at the same time that the area is becoming a ghost town.  If it were more popular then it would likely be ruined.  Side-note........Hwy 92 is equally as stunning as Hwy 2.  But again that is my opinion.

[Brad]

Kearney will cover state share of second I-80 interchange

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2 ... d=10305020

KEARNEY - Following the city's announcement it will pay for the Nebraska Department of Roads' share of the costs for a second Interstate 80 interchange, state Sen. Joel Johnson sees a bright future for economic development in Kearney.

"The leadership of Kearney is to be commended for their actions, and I think this is going to be a great thing for not only the city of Kearney but for the whole surrounding area," Johnson said.

People tend to focus on the Great Platte River Road Archway as the reason for the interchange on Cherry Avenue, Johnson said, but the industrial park, Kearney Regional Airport, Hilltop Mall, the National Guard Armory, lumberyards and truck traffic all will benefit from the new exit.

[Uffda]

I worked on my Masters at UNK during the summers of 1996 & 1997.  I hadn't been back until this past weekend and I was surprised at the amount of commercial growth on the north end of town.  It is a growing little city.

[Erik]

I worked on my Masters at UNK during the summers of 1996 & 1997.  I hadn't been back until this past weekend and I was surprised at the amount of commercial growth on the north end of town.  It is a growing little city.

I haven't been there for a while either, but it seems as if the tri-cities area really is starting to pick up some steam in terms of growth, and if you look at the percentages for their growth rate, while not stellar, it certainly is on pace to grow 8-10% this decade..

It is slowing becoming Nebraska's third metropolitan area, first will be Grand Island which will immediately have three counties for about 70,000 in the metro to start off with, and as Hastings, Kearney, Lexington and the other cities in the area continue to grow as they are then we'll see Kearney (Buffalo county) become the next, and Hastings will be added to the GI metro to push that metro to over 100,000, and then eventually Kearney and Grand Island/Hastings will be combined...

While that is going a little distant into the future, the start of it all is just about to begin..

[gisbuxfan]

Happy 10th Anniversary Archway! I am pretty impressed its lasted this long.

[Brad]

2nd Kearney exit in 2012?

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100222/NEWS01/702229874

KEARNEY, Neb. - Kearney officials now have a sense of when work might begin on a long-delayed Interstate 80 exit east of the city.

The new target now appears to be sometime in 2012.

Traffic consultants first suggested a second I-80 exit in 1989, and in 2005 Congress earmarked almost $19 million for the project.

A variety of agreements between the city, the Nebraska Department of Roads, federal roads and environmental officials and Union Pacific Railroad have been entered since 2005.

In addition, property owners near the exit and the bypass route have signed off on the plans.

However, state and federal officials are still working on an environmental assessment that must be completed before the project moves forward.

[Brad]

Another day and another story on the Kearney Arch

Kearney arch exit in road plan

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100720/N ... -road-plan

The Great Platte River Road Archway Monument would gain direct access to Interstate 80 and the City of Kearney would get the east interchange it has long sought under this year's state roads construction program.

Kearney officials cheered the inclusion of its long-awaited, $18.6 million east interchange.

Even after a federal earmark was obtained five years ago to fund the bulk of the project, the state struggled to come up with the required local match dollars at a time of pinched transportation budgets.

In the end, the state split the $3 million in local costs with the city, Kearney using keno funds and hotel taxes to fund its half. That paved the way for the project to now move ahead

[iamjacobm]

Kearney interchange work set

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110113/N ... e-work-set

After 14 years of stop-and-go studying, planning and waiting under cautionary yellow lights, the final green light on a second I-80 interchange into Kearney has arrived. The interchange will be built about a half mile east of the Great Platte River Road Archway, a tourist attraction spanning I-80.

Phase 1 includes construction of an I-80 exit onto Cherry Avenue and a four-lane divided highway one mile north to 11th Street. Wendell Wessels, the city's finance director, said the first phase of the project has been estimated to cost at least $15 million.
The second phase, estimated at $22 million, will be the construction of a three-mile, four-lane divided highway from 11th Street north to 56th Street. It includes an overpass over Highway 30. The final phase is the construction of a two-lane highway from 56th Street north to 78th Street and west to Highway 10, a $10.5 million project.

Great news for the city.

[Brad]

About time.  Really this is more or east bound traffic because the west bound exit was not really that far away.  Coyote, Technical disaster and I went and checked out the arch a couple years ago and there was a lot more in the arch than I thought there would be.

[NovakOmaha]

I read that the arch filed bancruptcy.  I went to Tripadvisor & read their comment section.  I didn't read all 106 reviews but the 4-5 pages I did read were almost all positive, with many very positive.  A few whined about the price but there are always those that would complain if the price was a penny.  Perhaps if the price was cut a bit they might attract a few more.  As with any business, and this is a business, it's all about the advertising and promotion...billboards, ads, placement in travel magazines, joint promotion with other area attractions, brochures in hotels & restaurants, good marketing, etc.  The new exit is sure to help.  Find the target audience & make sure to be in their plans.
Another suggestion, and this comes from years in the hotel business, read reviews and have comment cards and read every comment....then take action as a result of the comments.  Also, make sure its clean, extremely clean.

[Candleshoe]

We went during their preview week, way back when. Went back three more times in the next two years, taking out of town guests with us. It occurred to us that nothing really changed during each visit. Fast forward to our next visit about five years later... nothing really had changed.

[nebugeater]

Wasn't this built with expectation that an interchange was going to be boult off the interstate there?  No matter why it has not been.  Don't have an opinion if it should be or not either.  I think this is the biggest reason that it struggles.  IT is hard to get to.  FOr the ipulse stop by the time you figure out where to get off the Interstate you very likly have cahnged your mind.

As far as what is in it, I have been through it a few times and always enjoyed it.  To the point that it never changes, that is valid, but that is the case with many attraction mesuems if you want to call it that.  I have heard very few people say anything neg about what is in it as mentioned on above from the on line reviews.

[Omababe]

Wasn't this built with expectation that an interchange was going to be boult off the interstate there?  

I think it's been all of twice that I've driven by it. If it were more convenient, I know I would stop, but to back-track all the way from the main Kearney exit ...

[Brad]

We went during their preview week, way back when. Went back three more times in the next two years, taking out of town guests with us. It occurred to us that nothing really changed during each visit. Fast forward to our next visit about five years later... nothing really had changed.

Good point.  All the museums around Omaha have traveling exhibits that change every couple months.

[Candleshoe]

 To the point that it never changes, that is valid, but that is the case with many attraction mesuems if you want to call it that.  I have heard very few people say anything neg about what is in it as mentioned on above from the on line reviews.

Oh, there's nothing wrong with the exhibits... it's all quite cool. But, there's really no compelling reason to go back. In fact, when you watch the Archway scene in the movie "About Schmidt", we had to chuckle that it was EXACTLY like it always was and is.

It tells a story and the story didn't ever change, so there's probably little incentive for the displays to change.

To their credit, the Archway does host live events now and then, like a couple of car shows and pow wows, but those are pretty few and far between.

[Coyote]

Driving past this yesterday, it looks like the East entrance off-ramp is really close to opening. I wonder how the attendance figures will be affected by an exit where you can actually see the attraction before turning into it. I also was wondering which direction received the most attendees - East bound or West bound...

[cdub]

If this interchange was to help the monument it has to be the biggest waste Ive seen.  I hope it accomplishes something else ( a brand new pizza ranch, or something else exciting if you live in Kearny).  The only impact I can readily see is that it cuts off the westward view of the monstrosity, which was its only redeeming quality in my mind anyway.  Well done!  

[Coyote]

Archway to learn its fate from bankruptcy judge in a month

If the archway's proposal is rejected and the attraction closes, the structure must be removed from over Interstate 80. That $5 million expenses would fall to the Nebraska Department of Roads, Johnson said.

After it opened in 2000, the archway contributed $80,000 to a fund to remove the structure, but low attendance prevented additional contributions since the early years.

Johnson said if the Department of Roads must remove the archway, it would likely recoup the expense by delaying or cutting back on highway projects in the Kearney area.

[RNcyanide]

I hope it stays. I visited it once and I thought it was pretty neat and it's kind of interesting to drive under. You get so used to driving through essentially nothing and then BAM, "What's that?" If only it could have better access earlier.

[Candleshoe]

The Archway announced via its Facebook page that their outdoor attraction, the maze, would not be open during the Labor Day weekend due to a lack of volunteer staff.

[skinzfan23]

Kearney Arch makes a profit for the first time since it opened in 2000

For the first time since it opened in 2000, the Kearney Archway is in the black.

Executive Director Eric Hellreigel said last week that the arch’s operational revenues of $799,393 exceeded expenses by nearly 3 percent in 2017.


Archway attendance
2017: 57,592

2016: 53,852

2015: 55,959

2014: 50,457

2013: 49,851

[Louie]

Kearney Arch makes a profit for the first time since it opened in 2000

For the first time since it opened in 2000, the Kearney Archway is in the black.

Executive Director Eric Hellreigel said last week that the arch’s operational revenues of $799,393 exceeded expenses by nearly 3 percent in 2017.


Archway attendance
2017: 57,592

2016: 53,852

2015: 55,959

2014: 50,457

2013: 49,851

Any reason for the uptick?

[Brad]

Any reason for the uptick?

May be the Eclipse? Just a guess on my part.

[swinquest]

Any reason for the uptick?

May be the Eclipse? Just a guess on my part.

New interstate exit east of the Archway between Minden and Kearney. Allows a quick one minute drive instead of the previous alternatives which added anywhere from five minutes to 15 minutes to get there.

Immediate improvement once the exit opened.

[Coyote]

Celebrating the Great Platte River Road



KEARNEY, Neb. (KOLN) - During a visit to Kearney, we talked with the executive director of The Archway to learn about its role in bringing Nebraska history to life. Stacy Schwartz said The Archway is a stop on this year’s Nebraska Tourism Passport Program, so that is bound to bring in more visitors. The Archway opened in 2000, which means next year is the facility’s 25th anniversary. Schwartz said staff members are already making plans for a big celebration.

If you’ve been to The Archway before, then you know it’s an immersive experience. “The Archway covers 180 years of the Great Platte River Road,” Schwartz said. “It starts off with the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail, and the California Trail. Then, it goes into the progression of the Great Platte River Road, including the Pony Express, the railroad, the Lincoln Highway, and it ends with Interstate 80.”

[Renovator2559]

We are so grateful to have the Archway monument, especially serving as a midpoint in i80. I am very familiar with the Archway monument, as I lived in Kearney for several years. It was sad when I heard that they were planning on closing it down due to funding, but now it appears that they have secured ample funding and its in its 25th anniversary!