I-80/I-180 Interchange

[mrsticka]

If you've gone through the I-80/I-180 interchange, like I have many times, then you might know what I'm talking about.  Westbound I-80 has a collector/distributor lane there, but eastbound I-80 does not.  How come?  Is there not as much traffic on eastbound I-80 to justify a collector/distributor lane?

[Brad]

If you've gone through the I-80/I-180 interchange, like I have many times, then you might know what I'm talking about.  Westbound I-80 has a collector/distributor lane there, but eastbound I-80 does not.  How come?  Is there not as much traffic on eastbound I-80 to justify a collector/distributor lane?

Just guessing...

As far as I know  collector/distributor lanes are to keep traffic from backing up on the actual interstate.  There are probably 10 or 20 times as many people going out of Lincoln towards the East (Omaha, Gretna, Ashland, Etc) than there are going out of Lincoln towards the West (Crete, Pleasant Dale, York, GI, Etc).  So if you are taking I180 to go east, by the time you get on the Northbound to Eastbound Ramp, you just hit the interstate and go so it would never really back up.  However when all those people are heading in to Lincoln and they are going west on I180, they slow way down on that Clover Leaf ramp and it can back up traffic, so the C/D gives them more room and separation from the regular lanes of WB I80.

[mrsticka]

In a way, the I-80/I-180 interchange reminds me of the I-80/L Street interchange.  They're both cloverleaves, except now L Street has a traffic light at it.

[Coyote]

$12.5B Nebraska roadmap: I-80 six lanes west of Lincoln, South Beltway

The next segment of the interstate slated for expansion to six lanes is a 17-mile stretch between Lincoln and Seward.

The director also mentioned Lincoln's $300 million South Beltway, which has been working its way up the priority chain and has been getting close to reality.

"We are committed. We're going to finally build the Lincoln South Beltway," he said.

[Padre]

$12.5B Nebraska roadmap: I-80 six lanes west of Lincoln, South Beltway

The next segment of the interstate slated for expansion to six lanes is a 17-mile stretch between Lincoln and Seward.

The director also mentioned Lincoln's $300 million South Beltway, which has been working its way up the priority chain and has been getting close to reality.

"We are committed. We're going to finally build the Lincoln South Beltway," he said.

When I first moved here, I remember the construction between Omaha and Lincoln took years. Guess I better get used to it between Lincoln and Grand Island.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

I still don’t believe this is necessary. As infrastructure costs increase and paying for it all becomes more difficult, is it really the best idea to add more infrastructure with questionable value.

[iamjacobm]

If there were ever a boondoggle it would be an 80 expansion west of Lincoln to GI. What a waste.

[Louie]

I'm sure Seward to Lincoln is really in need of more lanes

[ricko]

If there were ever a boondoggle it would be an 80 expansion west of Lincoln to GI. What a waste.

What astonishes me is Nebraska's blatant disregard for public safety illustrated by the lack of simple features like guardrails on entrance/exit ramps that have steep drop offs on one side or the other, and yet they'll waste money on unnecessary stuff like this.

[jessep28]

I'm sure Seward to Lincoln is really in need of more lanes

Anecdotal based on my Interstate travels: Eastbound Seward to Lincoln for sure, but not so much Westbound. At least for the time being.

[RockHarbor]

They need to build that beltway, and thank goodness they finally are. It takes 20-30 minutes to get from I-80 down to those south suburbs (if not longer).

[Brad]

If there were ever a boondoggle it would be an 80 expansion west of Lincoln to GI. What a waste.

They could make it illegal to drive in the left land and eliminate the need for a 3rd lane west of Seward... I hate all the left lane drivers in this state!

[TitosBuritoBarn]

If there were ever a boondoggle it would be an 80 expansion west of Lincoln to GI. What a waste.

What astonishes me is Nebraska's blatant disregard for public safety illustrated by the lack of simple features like guardrails on entrance/exit ramps that have steep drop offs on one side or the other, and yet they'll waste money on unnecessary stuff like this.

I read somewhere an NDOR (at the time) rep say that they don’t worry about guardrails too much in some places given the generous amount of spacing in the medians and such between the traffic heading in the opposite direction. Talk about government waste...

[nativeomahan]

As someone who used to (until just last year) travel I-80 between Kearney and Omaha several times a month, I will toss my opinion into the mix here that I-80 definitely should be widened between west Lincoln and Seward, and probably between Seward and York. Beyond York I don’t think the traffic numbers would support the widening. It’s not just the raw traffic numbers that might support the widening, its the type of vehicles that travel that stretch. A huge percentage are 18-wheelers. There are times of day where the traffic volume resembles that of I-680 in Omaha, but 680 has relatively few semi trailer trucks transversing it, compared with I-80.

Here’s a fact of life: Urban dwellers subsidize rural highway construction, and not the other way around. Nebraska being such an overwhelmingly rural state, geographically speaking, there are many thousands of miles of rural highways serving collectively maybe half a million people, versus a few hundred miles located in metropolitan areas where everyone else lives. That’s the way life is. The funny thing is that people living in Scottsbluff or Valentine think that their tax dollars pour into Omaha for freeway construction when that is anything but the truth.