Official: West Dodge Expressway

Swift · Post by **Swift** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 7:36 pm

It's going to take them that long to finish?

The rate that they are going I thought they would be done by hte end of fall.

Post by **Brad** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 7:43 pm

They have to finish all of both bridges exept the one section over 120th st then they have to remove 120th st and tear out the hill before the bridge will even open. Besides the two main bridges, they also have several smaller bridges ar the east end of the expressway.

Swift · Post by **Swift** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 7:46 pm

But still there was practically nothing in October and now it looks as if one side is nearly complete. I was surprised that they are only on schedule.

OhioStreetKid · Post by **OhioStreetKid** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 7:55 pm

The rate that they are going I thought they would be done by hte end of fall.

You couldn't have been serious Swift. There is so much left to do.

OmahaDevelopmentMan · Post by **OmahaDevelopmentMan** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 8:15 pm

OK thank god they are redoing lower dodge after this is done. It looks so pieced together right now. I for some reason thought it was perminant. I'm wrong! I can't wait till it is all landscaped when its done. It should look great.

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 8:23 pm

Brad wrote:Is anyone able to post the map that was with this article in paper.

TitosBuritoBarn · Post by **TitosBuritoBarn** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 10:32 pm

Hmmmm, no doubt it'll be interesting when its all done, but I find it kind of unneccesary that they need a lower and an upper street. I was thinking they should just make it like a normal freeway with exits at 108th and 114th instead of lights. I suppose that would require a lot more eminent domain though eh?

almighty_tuna · Post by **almighty_tuna** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 10:41 am

I guarantee the businesses at 114th & Dodge would go ballistic if there was only a conventional freeway through there. They were upset that the elevated freeway would decrease business because people would take the lower road less.

MTO · Post by **MTO** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 11:30 am

They dam near went ballistic when this thing was being approved. But really though it’s the government, they will tare through neighborhoods just to put in roads (eminent domain). I think it should have been a classic freeway as well.

Jon · Post by **Jon** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 11:49 am

almighty_tuna wrote:I guarantee the businesses at 114th & Dodge would go ballistic if there was only a conventional freeway through there. They were upset that the elevated freeway would decrease business because people would take the lower road less.

And it's right that they SHOULD be upset. I don't argue the benefits of the freeway, but there absolutely has been a "taking", and I feel the business owners should receive compensation. It's as quantifiable as the loss that would be incurred if you lost part of your yard to a road expansion.

Swift · Post by **Swift** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 11:50 am

Classic freeways are gross. I'm glad it's an elevated expressway. Driving under an elevated road is fun and exciting, and driving on the new espressway will give higher vantage point over the valley.

Raraavis · Post by **Raraavis** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 12:22 pm

I guess I am still the only one who thinks making north and south bound traffic on 120th go through a traditional intersection is a bad idea. That is going to be the worst intersection in Omaha. 120th Street has a ton of North\South traffic and overpass or not West Dodge is still going to have a very very busy.

Post by **Brad** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 1:04 pm

The 120 intersection is not going to be bad at all. 75% of the traffic that uses dodge will be up top on the expressway. The current 120th st design is horiable. Dodge at 120th st will have 2 left turn lanes 1 right turn land and 3 through lanes.

MTO · Post by **MTO** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 2:31 pm

The elevated expressway is cool, fun, neat, fun to show off to out-of-towners, makes us feel like a bigger city etc.. But in the long term it would have been better to make it surface. I think the state wanted to have a halo project.
I also agree that those businesses should have been compensated; maybe they should sue and make the state pay for what they are doing.
One thing they need to reconstruct is those two loops on the west side of the Dodge I-680 interchange. It blows goat trying to get off their everyday!!! I just want to pull out my fiddy when I approach it. It’s hard to believe they left it like that for such an elaborate complex. K, I’m done now.

Post by **Brad** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 2:47 pm

pkiphd

You need to look at the long term. When there was 4 loops, the traffic that was trying to get on the interstate was merging with the people getting off the interstate, that sucked. The loops and ramps situation will be so much better when the project is FINISHED, I know how much it sucks right now I use it everyday also, however I see how much progress they are making and study the maps and know it will be better in the future.

DTO Luv · Post by **DTO Luv** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 5:00 pm

Like I said before. I love East Omaha.

MTO · Post by **MTO** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 5:31 pm

pkiphd

You need to look at the long term. When there was 4 loops, the traffic that was trying to get on the interstate was merging with the people getting off the interstate, that sucked. The loops and ramps situation will be so much better when the project is FINISHED, I know how much it sucks right now I use it everyday also, however I see how much progress they are making and study the maps and know it will be better in the future.

Oh I thought they where done with that part (the 2 west loops), and for the most part the whole interchange accept the n. side of Dodge Well I can’t wait to see how they are going rebuild, so there isn’t a loop dumping into another loop that is collecting.

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 8:55 pm

Whoever decided to call the major streets in west Omaha "west [fill in the blank] road" is an absolute moron! It's so confusing for people who don't know where they are going.

"Ok, Uncle Bill, when you get to the interchange you're going to take east West Dodge Road, and even though you'll be going east, it's still called West Dodge Road. Ok? You'll be alright."

And on top of that, West Dodge Road shouldn't even be called "Dodge". It should be Cass Street, because that's what it curves over and turns into between 84th Street and 90th Street.

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 9:11 pm

I used to live on 232 N 129th St which was south of Dodge.
Our house was hit by lightning in the 70's - we called the fire department
and they spent 30 minutes in Candlewood (N of Dodge) trying to find us.
Dodge being the 100 block causes real problems when it turns into WDR

Jon · Post by **Jon** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 10:15 pm

Coyote - I'm in exactly the same boat. I'm 2 blocks north on 118th st, which also means I'm south of Dodge. What makes it worse, there's a house 3 houses away that's our same address but SOUTH of Dodge. That's some MAJOR confusion.

I always assumed the jogs were to keep them lined up with section roads.

DTO Luv · Post by **DTO Luv** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 10:31 pm

West O: Where the streets have no name. No wonder U2 is coming.

eomaha · Post by **eomaha** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 10:45 pm

I can't believe people are complaining about the street grid/naming situation in Omaha. There are FAR worse cities. Are you kidding me about driving east on a 'West' street??? There are cities which not only have 'west'... but 'east', 'north', and 'south'. And be happy our annexations have 'standardized' metro streets... you can go to many other metros comprised of numerous autonomous cities... and expect to see the same stretch of road change from one city to the next. By the way... I lived at 323 S 152nd Cir at one time... so I've had my fair share of free (albeit late) pizza's too.

DTO Luv · Post by **DTO Luv** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 10:55 pm

Like KC. Especially on the northern side.

TitosBuritoBarn · Post by **TitosBuritoBarn** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 11:25 pm

I like how they have cardinal directions in the street names. It sounds....prettier. Having cardinal directions in street names really isn't that confusing if you don't try and make them confusing. Instead of saying "take east West Dodge Road" you could say "take West Dodge Road east." I'm pretty certain most people will gather that "west" is part of the street name. Many cities do this with their streets.

On the other hand, I dislike the usage of the word "road" in many of our western street names. Road, to me, comes off as rural. West Dodge Road is hardly rural in nature. I think they should scrap the word "road" in favor of "avenue" or "boulevard."

Swift · Post by **Swift** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 11:51 pm

I agree with you about the word road. Though in the case of West Dodge Road it sounds good because there is a sort of quasi-alliteration going on there.

adam186 · Post by **adam186** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 11:55 pm

^Like Epply Airfield

eomaha · Post by **eomaha** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 12:20 am

Oh brother.

almighty_tuna · Post by **almighty_tuna** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 10:00 am

And East Eppley Airfield. Often times I can't find my hangar and end up somewhere in Iowa, which somehow is west of Iowa.

Raraavis · Post by **Raraavis** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 10:21 am

avanzee wrote:^Like Epply Airfield

At least it's something unique. Being different isn't a bad thing.

icejammer · Post by **icejammer** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 11:55 am

For those wondering about the "West Dodge Road" moniker, even though it lines up with Cass Street, you'll have to go back to the early days of the Lincoln Highway (before it got relocated through Blair). The Lincoln Highway used to come down from Missouri Valley through Council Bluffs and across to Omaha, running down Dodge Street. As the Highway got to the west edge of Omaha, it had to jog to meet up with the existing section line road (which is Cass Street now). As Omaha pushed westward, that jog in the road eventually got smoothed out, but the main road was already there and to avoid confusion (this is conjecture on my part, but it seems pretty reasonable), the road retained the 'Dodge' moniker and hence West Dodge Road. And yes, West Dodge Road and Dodge Street coexist from about 79th to 84th.

MTO · Post by **MTO** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 2:49 pm

Does anyone know what exactly they are doing on Dodge tonight? I heard they where closing it down to one lane for concrete overlay. Is that on Dodge itself up on the viaduct? Do you think it will be worth going out there and taking a gander?

DTO Luv · Post by **DTO Luv** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 3:10 pm

It was a |expletive| today. I haven't been there since most of the work has started but we had to go through it today and WB was down to one lane. I wouldn't have minded it so much if I was driving but my bumpkin country family was and they let everyone in front of us. They didn't understand you have to about run into the car in front of you to keep others from cutting in.

MTO · Post by **MTO** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 3:57 pm

my bumpkin country family

LMFAO

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 4:00 pm

DTO Luv wrote:I wouldn't have minded it so much if I was driving but my bumpkin country family was

Dude. When are you finally going to get your license?

DTO Luv · Post by **DTO Luv** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 4:06 pm

As soon as I pay Iowa the $790 I owe them (this week or next week) and then KC and MO another $356 and if I get this job I went to today I should have it back before my birthday at the end of the month. That would be the best present ever.

MTO · Post by **MTO** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 4:09 pm

Oh I didn’t know Iowa and Missouri had RED LIGHT CAMERAS. LOL

DTO Luv · Post by **DTO Luv** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 4:26 pm

They don't. State Patrol.

It was cool seeing that big stretch of upper section being completed. It looked huge. It even wowed the Bumpkins.

almighty_tuna · Post by **almighty_tuna** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 4:47 pm

Yes, it will support multiple combines simultaneously! ;)

DTO Luv · Post by **DTO Luv** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 4:51 pm

I told them it floated.

I know it was brought up on here before but when the EXPW gets to 120th St. it doesn't seem like it's going to clear the hill. I would like to see W. Dodge just get a label like the North and South Freeways. It's still a "street" but it looks more like a freeway and if it looks like a duck and smells like a duck...

MTO · Post by **MTO** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 6:14 pm

Have we gotten on here an official response why W. Dodge does not have a Highway/Freeway designation?