Omaha transportation's $7.4B future

[BRoss]

Why do they plan to shut down the 24th street interchange on I-80?

With it being in the middle of the I-480 interchange it doesn't seem like it poses much of a problem. If it was outside of it, then I could see them wanting to removing it due to it being too close.

If they ever wanted to put the shoulders back or add another lane, they would have to remove the ramps and I can see them not wanting to put them back. But in that case they would also have to replace the bridge.

I personally think they should just leave it.

[bigredmed1]

Why do they plan to shut down the 24th street interchange on I-80?

I dont know, maybe to increase walkability of the intersection. Im not in favor of getting rid of 24th, but F street, Martha, and 13th aren't too far away. If you want to go west or north from 24th, those options are a little undesirable.

As 24th becomes more of an important route out of the Vinton area, this seems to be short sighted to shut this one down.

[Busguy2010]

As 24th becomes more of an important route out of the Vinton area, this seems to be short sighted to shut this one down.

Yeah, I agree. But on the other hand, maybe in the long run it would be undesirable to encourage more personal vehicle traffic to that area, and that might be a contributing factor as to why they plan to remove it.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

Planners at NDOT need to learn a little more about induced demand theory. It's weird to me that solving traffic issues at NDOT keeps going back to "well let's just widen the road again." Soon our expressway system will look like it belongs in Atlanta for a metro with 1/6 of the population.

They keep trying to stop all traffic congestion from happening by throwing crazy amounts of funding at increasing capacity. It's similar to an obese person fighting their issue by throwing a lot of money at buying larger clothes. It doesn't really get to the heart of the problem. They need to consider other solutions.

[bigredmed1]

Planners at NDOT need to learn a little more about induced demand theory. It's weird to me that solving traffic issues at NDOT keeps going back to "well let's just widen the road again." Soon our expressway system will look like it belongs in Atlanta for a metro with 1/6 of the population.

They keep trying to stop all traffic congestion from happening by throwing crazy amounts of funding at increasing capacity. It's similar to an obese person fighting their issue by throwing a lot of money at buying larger clothes. It doesn't really get to the heart of the problem. They need to consider other solutions.

But the other solutions so far proposed end up not working due to induced counter-demand theory. You induce people to tell you to buzz off when you want them to drive 5 miles to a "park and ride" and then take a 20 min ride on a bus and then get written up because the bus got you there late. As you are the bread winner and can't afford to get written up, you say, bye to the Orbit and hello to driving past it. When that doesn't work, you see people pack their |expletive| to move to the next "20 min city".

[bigredmed1]

As 24th becomes more of an important route out of the Vinton area, this seems to be short sighted to shut this one down.

Yeah, I agree. But on the other hand, maybe in the long run it would be undesirable to encourage more personal vehicle traffic to that area, and that might be a contributing factor as to why they plan to remove it.

But as the area grows and as there are more and more cool things down there, the number of people going there or living there is going to increase. Forcing them to go north to Martha or east to 13th street is going to mess with traffic and cause people to get POd and the Urban Planner police will have another axe to grind when the urban infill stops.

[Busguy2010]

Hopefully Vinton will never become cool like Benson and Blackstone have.

[ita]

Hopefully Vinton will never become cool like Benson and Blackstone have.

Vinton is definitely it's own thing, more like a second downtown South O, than Benson and Blackstone. With that said, I could see both downtown South O and the Vinton business district get increased investment in the form of newer multifamily housing over the next decade, but still keep their own unique cultural identities.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

Planners at NDOT need to learn a little more about induced demand theory. It's weird to me that solving traffic issues at NDOT keeps going back to "well let's just widen the road again." Soon our expressway system will look like it belongs in Atlanta for a metro with 1/6 of the population.

They keep trying to stop all traffic congestion from happening by throwing crazy amounts of funding at increasing capacity. It's similar to an obese person fighting their issue by throwing a lot of money at buying larger clothes. It doesn't really get to the heart of the problem. They need to consider other solutions.

But the other solutions so far proposed end up not working due to induced counter-demand theory. You induce people to tell you to buzz off when you want them to drive 5 miles to a "park and ride" and then take a 20 min ride on a bus and then get written up because the bus got you there late. As you are the bread winner and can't afford to get written up, you say, bye to the Orbit and hello to driving past it. When that doesn't work, you see people pack their |expletive| to move to the next "20 min city".

People could live closer to work. That's one pretty fool-proof solution. I know, I know - we "shouldn't try to stop people from living where they want because 'Merica." But there's a line. And crossing that line is many things, but one of them is money. $7.5 billion for roads doesn't grow on trees. It comes from people like you. And when the roads need repairing, you'll pay for that too. And when they need plowing, the funds are also on you. And when new roads are needed again, you'll also pay for that as well as their maintenance. If you're hoping for state tax relief soon, sorry pal, but it ain't coming from the Department of Transportation.

You can add as many lanes as you like, but the days of Omaha being a city you can criss-cross in 20 minutes or less are over.

[skinzfan23]

I will be glad to see some improvements along Hwy 75. That road is way too busy for only 2-3 lanes in each direction...not to mention all the junk on the shoulders and the light posts that get knocked down and stay down for weeks or months.

[Original]

Reconfiguration of a portion of the I-680 / West Dodge Road system interchange to eliminate weaving for traffic from I-680 heading westbound

This one will be great when it is put in place. I head home from work this way every day, and it is consistently faster to stay in the left lane, attempt to zipper onto the Expressway at the last possible moment, and if that fails, take the non-expressway below back up onto Dodge past 120th, and again zipper merge back onto the main express flow as close to 132nd as possible, than to try to stay in the 'correct' lanes as long as possible. Almost the entire reason for the congestion is drivers from SB 680 trying to get on below on West Dodge, not the expressway/

[Louie]

Hopefully Vinton will never become cool like Benson and Blackstone have.

Is this sarcasm? Can't tell...

[Omahacritic]

Reconfiguration of a portion of the I-680 / West Dodge Road system interchange to eliminate weaving for traffic from I-680 heading westbound

This one will be great when it is put in place. I head home from work this way every day, and it is consistently faster to stay in the left lane, attempt to zipper onto the Expressway at the last possible moment, and if that fails, take the non-expressway below back up onto Dodge past 120th, and again zipper merge back onto the main express flow as close to 132nd as possible, than to try to stay in the 'correct' lanes as long as possible. Almost the entire reason for the congestion is drivers from SB 680 trying to get on below on West Dodge, not the expressway/

By zippering, do you mean cutting in line, then pleading innocent ignorance?

Biggest problem for this merge is lack of signage and lane markings until you come around the curve.

And of course, Omahans who drive a car capable of driving the curve at 70 mph driving it at 45 mph.

[Busguy2010]

Hopefully Vinton will never become cool like Benson and Blackstone have.

Is this sarcasm? Can't tell...

No, I wouldn't want it to become a new hangout for trendy folk and dilute the organic cultural feel of the district, and drive current residents out from rising property value. I like it how it is and hope it doesnt get discovered by the type of people who discovered Benson and Blackstone.

[Busguy2010]

Reconfiguration of a portion of the I-680 / West Dodge Road system interchange to eliminate weaving for traffic from I-680 heading westbound

This one will be great when it is put in place. I head home from work this way every day, and it is consistently faster to stay in the left lane, attempt to zipper onto the Expressway at the last possible moment, and if that fails, take the non-expressway below back up onto Dodge past 120th, and again zipper merge back onto the main express flow as close to 132nd as possible, than to try to stay in the 'correct' lanes as long as possible. Almost the entire reason for the congestion is drivers from SB 680 trying to get on below on West Dodge, not the expressway/

By zippering, do you mean cutting in line, then pleading innocent ignorance?

Biggest problem for this merge is lack of signage and lane markings until you come around the curve.

And of course, Omahans who drive a car capable of driving the curve at 70 mph driving it at 45 mph.

This will be a good change. On the other hand, people need to quit huffing and puffing over people cutting in. I do it often because it makes no sense to waste all that time waiting in line like cattle, because someone's pride will be hurt by me nosing in front of them and not serving my fair chunk of time. It really is silly how defensive people get about their place in line. Just remember this folks, next time you see a half mile line of cars, go to the front and wait for things to start moving, there will ALWAYS be someone nodding off long enough to insert yourself in front of.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

Reconfiguration of a portion of the I-680 / West Dodge Road system interchange to eliminate weaving for traffic from I-680 heading westbound

This one will be great when it is put in place. I head home from work this way every day, and it is consistently faster to stay in the left lane, attempt to zipper onto the Expressway at the last possible moment, and if that fails, take the non-expressway below back up onto Dodge past 120th, and again zipper merge back onto the main express flow as close to 132nd as possible, than to try to stay in the 'correct' lanes as long as possible. Almost the entire reason for the congestion is drivers from SB 680 trying to get on below on West Dodge, not the expressway/

By zippering, do you mean cutting in line, then pleading innocent ignorance?

Biggest problem for this merge is lack of signage and lane markings until you come around the curve.

And of course, Omahans who drive a car capable of driving the curve at 70 mph driving it at 45 mph.

This will be a good change. On the other hand, people need to quit huffing and puffing over people cutting in. I do it often because it makes no sense to waste all that time waiting in line like cattle, because someone's pride will be hurt by me nosing in front of them and not serving my fair chunk of time. It really is silly how defensive people get about their place in line. Just remember this folks, next time you see a half mile line of cars, go to the front and wait for things to start moving, there will ALWAYS be someone nodding off long enough to insert yourself in front of.

Indeed. Going against the traffic planner’s desire for you to zipper merge due to some ridiculous brand of midwestern/British politeness protocol toward the falsely sacred queue is why you’re stuck in traffic. The zipper is efficient. What do you anti-zippers suppose all those highway on-ramps that merge from two lanes to one are for? Or why they don’t tell you immediately that the lane ends ahead?

[Omahacritic]

Some people, the only power they have on a daily basis .....

[Uffda]

Reconfiguration of a portion of the I-680 / West Dodge Road system interchange to eliminate weaving for traffic from I-680 heading westbound

This one will be great when it is put in place. I head home from work this way every day, and it is consistently faster to stay in the left lane, attempt to zipper onto the Expressway at the last possible moment, and if that fails, take the non-expressway below back up onto Dodge past 120th, and again zipper merge back onto the main express flow as close to 132nd as possible, than to try to stay in the 'correct' lanes as long as possible. Almost the entire reason for the congestion is drivers from SB 680 trying to get on below on West Dodge, not the expressway/

By zippering, do you mean cutting in line, then pleading innocent ignorance?

Biggest problem for this merge is lack of signage and lane markings until you come around the curve.

And of course, Omahans who drive a car capable of driving the curve at 70 mph driving it at 45 mph.

This will be a good change. On the other hand, people need to quit huffing and puffing over people cutting in. I do it often because it makes no sense to waste all that time waiting in line like cattle, because someone's pride will be hurt by me nosing in front of them and not serving my fair chunk of time. It really is silly how defensive people get about their place in line. Just remember this folks, next time you see a half mile line of cars, go to the front and wait for things to start moving, there will ALWAYS be someone nodding off long enough to insert yourself in front of.

Indeed. Going against the traffic planner’s desire for you to zipper merge due to some ridiculous brand of midwestern/British politeness protocol toward the falsely sacred queue is why you’re stuck in traffic. The zipper is efficient. What do you anti-zippers suppose all those highway on-ramps that merge from two lanes to one are for? Or why they don’t tell you immediately that the lane ends ahead?

Zipper merging is the way to go but I don’t see not doing it as politeness but actually the way we were trained to drive. Also being trained to do it the right way. I don’t think what Original posted about coming from the left lane and trying to merge in was actually planned as a zipper merge at that point of the road.

Also I don’t think that curve was designed for 70 mph.

[Busguy2010]

I have a theory. Maybe whoever was teaching us (people who live around here) to drive was either scared or didnt want to deal with it, and just told us to get over asap to reduce stress of the situation. I think to concept of waiting til the last possible moment to find a way in could be highly stressful for a greenhorn. We were also taught in school to get in line in alphabetical order, too. So now we think it's the right thing to do on the road and everybody has a rightful place in line, and that's why people are defensive over allowing people to zip.

[GrandpaaSmucker]

This will be a good change. On the other hand, people need to quit huffing and puffing over people cutting in. I do it often because it makes no sense to waste all that time waiting in line like cattle, because someone's pride will be hurt by me nosing in front of them and not serving my fair chunk of time. It really is silly how defensive people get about their place in line. Just remember this folks, next time you see a half mile line of cars, go to the front and wait for things to start moving, there will ALWAYS be someone nodding off long enough to insert yourself in front of.

The ones that make me huff and puff the most are the idiots who let the cheaters cut in line. If those do-gooding fools would not let the cheaters cut in and the cheaters had to sit there for 10 minutes then maybe they would learn their lesson. I suspect the fools and do-gooders who let the cheaters cut in line are so goofed up in their heads that they think they are doing a good deed by letting the cheaters cut.I wonder if it is incomprehensible to their do-gooder simpleton minds that by facilitating the cheaters they have just screwed over the all the people behind them who were doing the right thing. 99 times out of a hundred I would sooner die then let the cheater cut in line! No I am no saint......I too was that low life self centered cheating dog at least a couple of times in 2019!

[Busguy2010]

I do the same on Northbound 72nd at Dodge. People know the curb lane ends at Cass and get into the left two lanes way too early, causing the left two lanes to back up, while between that and people turning right onto Dodge, the odds of you having a clear path ahead in the third lane are pretty good. So you punch it and get in front, or wait for someone looking down at their phone, some old lady, or someone simply not in the game. Not everybody has this competitive fire to not let anybody in or die.

And I'll admit, sometimes I do have that competitiveness, depending on the person trying to get in. If he looks like an A Hole, drives a muscle car, or a monster truck or is otherwise undeserving, then no way I'm letting him in.. But the other 75% of the time I'm in the position to allow someone in front of me, I let it go.

[GrandpaaSmucker]

And I'll admit, sometimes I do have that competitiveness, depending on the person trying to get in. If he looks like an A Hole, drives a muscle car, or a monster truck or is otherwise undeserving, then no way I'm letting him in.. But the other 75% of the time I'm in the position to allow someone in front of me, I let it go.

Driving West on I-80 through Omaha yesterday I was in the far left fast lane in a little traffic and this car to the side of me was just trying to force there way into a space that did not exist in front of me. My ugly competitive side kicked in and I held my ground and backed the car off. A few miles down the road the traffic lightened up and the car pulled up besides me and it was a 35-40 year old woman who was yelling out her window and giving me the finger. I looker her in the eye and smiled from ear to ear. She would of shot me if she had a gun! She had Colorado plates. I did not leave her with a good impression of Nebraskans I am afraid.

[damonhynes]

And I'll admit, sometimes I do have that competitiveness, depending on the person trying to get in. If he looks like an A Hole, drives a muscle car, or a monster truck or is otherwise undeserving, then no way I'm letting him in.. But the other 75% of the time I'm in the position to allow someone in front of me, I let it go.

Driving West on I-80 through Omaha yesterday I was in the far left fast lane in a little traffic and this car to the side of me was just trying to force there way into a space that did not exist in front of me. My ugly competitive side kicked in and I held my ground and backed the car off. A few miles down the road the traffic lightened up and the car pulled up besides me and it was a 35-40 year old woman who was yelling out her window and giving me the finger. I looker her in the eye and smiled from ear to ear. She would of shot me if she had a gun! She had Colorado plates. I did not leave her with a good impression of Nebraskans I am afraid.

She was prolly muleing weight back and forth and had a schedule to keep.

[Omahacritic]

GrandPa, wave your .38 at her and I guarantee she slams her brakes.

[Uffda]

This will be a good change. On the other hand, people need to quit huffing and puffing over people cutting in. I do it often because it makes no sense to waste all that time waiting in line like cattle, because someone's pride will be hurt by me nosing in front of them and not serving my fair chunk of time. It really is silly how defensive people get about their place in line. Just remember this folks, next time you see a half mile line of cars, go to the front and wait for things to start moving, there will ALWAYS be someone nodding off long enough to insert yourself in front of.

The ones that make me huff and puff the most are the idiots who let the cheaters cut in line. If those do-gooding fools would not let the cheaters cut in and the cheaters had to sit there for 10 minutes then maybe they would learn their lesson. I suspect the fools and do-gooders who let the cheaters cut in line are so goofed up in their heads that they think they are doing a good deed by letting the cheaters cut.I wonder if it is incomprehensible to their do-gooder simpleton minds that by facilitating the cheaters they have just screwed over the all the people behind them who were doing the right thing. 99 times out of a hundred I would sooner die then let the cheater cut in line! No I am no saint......I too was that low life self centered cheating dog at least a couple of times in 2019!

[youtube][/youtube]

[Busguy2010]

"Resist the urge to merge".

[Original]

I don't plead ignorance. I intend to do it. If safety is the concern, I'm no less safe than the people who stop on the expressway at 120th to merge/let people merge, or the people who slam on their brakes/accelerate wildly to prevent people from merging.

I only zipper in if I can do it at a speed close to what the traffic is moving at, and not slow people in the adjacent lanes or in front or behind. It's almost always possible because there is someone driving too slow, and you can just slot right in with the flow of traffic. I admit that I'm not always successful, but probably 95% of the time my zipper is not a problem, and if I think it is going to be, I just head down on the lower part of Dodge to take it back up to the trafficway at 120th.

No, the roadway isn't exactly designed for this, but I think the traffic planners either mis-estimated the amount of traffic that would be trying to get to lower Dodge from south-bound 680, they assumed that traffic would be moving enough for people to merge in, or they thought that people would zipper merge onto the expressway better. Unfortunately, none are true, and so a good chunk of money will have to be spent reconfiguring that interchange to support the way people actually drive.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

While utilizing the zipper merge was already a rule of the road in Illinois (it's usage was the one question I missed on my driver's test when I moved there), the state passed a law last year that, among other things, made the following change:

(d) The Secretary of State shall include, in the Illinois
Rules of the Road publication, information advising drivers to
use the zipper merge method when merging into a reduced number
of lanes (drivers in merging lanes are expected to use both
lanes to advance to the lane reduction point and merge at that
location, alternating turns).

The effectiveness of the zipper-merge becomes apparent when you try to imagine Chicago traffic resisting zipper merges at the many, many, many points where lanes reduce on roadways and highways throughout the region.

[BRoss]

Reconfiguration of a portion of the I-680 / West Dodge Road system interchange to eliminate weaving for traffic from I-680 heading westbound

This one will be great when it is put in place. I head home from work this way every day, and it is consistently faster to stay in the left lane, attempt to zipper onto the Expressway at the last possible moment, and if that fails, take the non-expressway below back up onto Dodge past 120th, and again zipper merge back onto the main express flow as close to 132nd as possible, than to try to stay in the 'correct' lanes as long as possible. Almost the entire reason for the congestion is drivers from SB 680 trying to get on below on West Dodge, not the expressway/

I'm a fan of zipper merging, but this is not a place meant for that. Zipper merging should be when a lane is closed or ends in a merge up ahead (no, lanes that end with right turns are not meant for this either). When the lane continues somewhere else and you stop to try to get over, now you have stopped traffic from going the way the lane was intended (not saying you do this as you said you are willing to miss the entrance). I can't tell you how many times I was trying to get to lower Dodge only to have someone hold me up because they wanted to merge last second and can't get in.

If you can find a gap, then go for it, but don't hold up traffic because you want to cut around anyone. That's just being an [expletive] and turns people off to the concept. If we want zipper merging to catch on, we can't abuse it or else it never will.

[Original]

Reconfiguration of a portion of the I-680 / West Dodge Road system interchange to eliminate weaving for traffic from I-680 heading westbound

This one will be great when it is put in place. I head home from work this way every day, and it is consistently faster to stay in the left lane, attempt to zipper onto the Expressway at the last possible moment, and if that fails, take the non-expressway below back up onto Dodge past 120th, and again zipper merge back onto the main express flow as close to 132nd as possible, than to try to stay in the 'correct' lanes as long as possible. Almost the entire reason for the congestion is drivers from SB 680 trying to get on below on West Dodge, not the expressway/

I'm a fan of zipper merging, but this is not a place meant for that. Zipper merging should be when a lane is closed or ends in a merge up ahead (no, lanes that end with right turns are not meant for this either). When the lane continues somewhere else and you stop to try to get over, now you have stopped traffic from going the way the lane was intended (not saying you do this as you said you are willing to miss the entrance). I can't tell you how many times I was trying to get to lower Dodge only to have someone hold me up because they wanted to merge last second and can't get in.

If you can find a gap, then go for it, but don't hold up traffic because you want to cut around anyone. That's just being an [expletive] and turns people off to the concept. If we want zipper merging to catch on, we can't abuse it or else it never will.

It's not exactly meant for it, no. I know it's not a true zipper, but my goal is to only do it if it doesn't impede the flow of traffic, meaning that I look to see if someone is trying to merge over to get to lower Dodge.

And I'm totally willing to miss the entrance to the expressway because it is faster to go down lower Dodge and back up onto the Expressway than to sit on the ramp from 680 back. Hey, I even don't force myself back onto West Dodge between 120th and 132nd if I can't get on, and take 132nd to California up to 144th to get to my home around 156th and Blondo.

[Brad]

OWH ran an article, basically the same as what Paperstackers posted on here back in December:

https://www.omaha.com/news/local/key-ch ... 71762.html

[daveoma]

I'm bummed that they're going to get rid of the 24th Street interchange. I really think that exit connected South Omaha and Vinton street to the rest of the city. I'm less sad about seeing the F street exit go, but that means that the only way to get to South Omaha from West Omaha or midtown is to get off on the L or Q street exits. Let's hope they upgrade then adequately to account for the extra traffic.

[Busguy2010]

Let's hope they upgrade them [L and Q streets] adequately to account for the extra traffic.

Sounds like that is the goal.

The most interesting change to me was the "Splitting the 3 WB Expressway lanes into 4 up the hill". I would assume this means it would have to merge back to 3 lanes at some point before the 120th entrance. And it doesn't seem this would solve the issue of SB I-680 traffic merging onto the lower level of Dodge, or the far left lane traffic wanting to merge onto the upper level. It would help people merging from SB I-680 to the upper level, though. Wonder how long that extra lane would be.

[BRoss]

OWH ran an article, basically the same as what Paperstackers posted on here back in December:

https://www.omaha.com/news/local/key-ch ... 71762.html

Looks like the full report is out: https://dot.nebraska.gov/media/113174/m ... report.pdf

I haven't had a chance to look into it yet, but that seems to be why it's finally making its rounds in the news right now.

Let's hope they upgrade them [L and Q streets] adequately to account for the extra traffic.

Sounds like that is the goal.

The most interesting change to me was the "Splitting the 3 WB Expressway lanes into 4 up the hill". I would assume this means it would have to merge back to 3 lanes at some point before the 120th entrance. And it doesn't seem this would solve the issue of SB I-680 traffic merging onto the lower level of Dodge, or the far left lane traffic wanting to merge onto the upper level. It would help people merging from SB I-680 to the upper level, though. Wonder how long that extra lane would be.

From my understanding, they plan on making L St and Q St a combined interchange. Although that's not fully clear yet as I've also read that they plan on making L St a half interchange and Q St a full one with frontage roads connecting.

As for Dodge, I know they plan on adding another lane out to 144th, so I'm not sure if there will be a lane drop on the expressway bridge. They seemed to indicate the frontage road on the north side of Dodge was going to have to be moved, so it doesn't sound like they are just going to have the left auxiliary lane continue onward at 132nd.

And I'm still curious what they plan on doing to eliminate the weaving from southbound I-680. One thing I had read seemed to indicate that they would entirely cut off access to the expressway bridge, but that doesn't seem to be a wise choice. It kind of sounds like they plan to weave another ramp between the northbound I-680 to Dodge ramp and westbound Dodge to southbound 680 loop.

I'm hoping the full report can shed some light on some of the details here. I'm going to try to skim through that some time in the next few days.

[Original]

From the report(Page 18)

SB I-680 Split Directional Ramps: This option would keep the existing SB I-680 ramp alignment, but would
limit traffic on that ramp to only access the WB West Dodge Road Expressway. An additional ramp would
be braided underneath the NB I-680 to WB West Dodge Road directional ramp to provide SB I-680 access
to local West Dodge Road and the Old Mill area. With a four lane WB West Dodge Road Expressway
bridge, this option provides acceptable LOS at the I-680 interchange. NDOT supports this configuration
because it gives NDOT some flexibility with a phased implementation of the ultimate lane configuration, as
follows:
 Interim: One lane from WB West Dodge Road and two lanes from I-680.
 Full-Build Option A: Two lanes from WB West Dodge Road and two lanes from I-680. This option
is the recommended concept and is shown in Appendix F.
 Full-Build Option B: One lane from WB West Dodge Road and three lanes from I-680 (one from
SB I-680 and two from NB I-680). This option would require some localized widening on the West
Dodge Road Expressway bridges (S006 36484B and S006 36428B) in the gore area of the
connection between I-680 ramps and WB West Dodge Road to the West Dodge Road
Expressway.
 For the reasons described previously, the SB I-680 Split Directional Ramps – Full-Build Option A configuration was
selected as the recommended concept.

If I read this correctly, they are going to add a dedicated ramp for southbound I-680 traffic to have access to West Dodge Road (Lower Dodge) and have two lanes from NB 680 and SB 680 (Widening the West Dodge Expressway from 3-4 lanes)

If I understand this correctly, I think this will greatly help the flow of traffic, as SB and NB 680 --> Expressway traffic can maintain speed since no traffic will need to merge through to get to Lower Dodge, and traffic from NB can flow into the lane for traffic from SB as necessary. But since I am not a traffic engineer, I could be totally wrong.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

$7.4 billion to save people maybe 5 minutes. There’s your property tax relief, Ricketts. NDOT has it.

[Busguy2010]

From my understanding, they plan on making L St and Q St a combined interchange. Although that's not fully clear yet as I've also read that they plan on making L St a half interchange and Q St a full one with frontage roads connecting.

As I read it, the "frontage roads" are just 25th and 26th Ave. Same as how I-480 at Harney enters and exits off of 28th and 29th streets.

[daveoma]

$7.4 billion to save people maybe 5 minutes. There’s your property tax relief, Ricketts. NDOT has it.

Right?? So many people complain about a $100 million streetcar but here the state wants to spend BILLIONS on ridiculously wide freeways, so we become even more dependent on the automobile. I think there are much better uses for tax money than to cover more of the city with concrete and pay for the inevitable maintenance. The only ones that benefit from this are car companies, state construction contractors, and the snow plow. Think of what we could build with $7.4 billion. We could put a small wind turbine in every backyard and cover every building in solar panels. Everyone would have clean and cheap energy forever.

[Busguy2010]

$7.4 billion to save people maybe 5 minutes. There’s your property tax relief, Ricketts. NDOT has it.

Right?? So many people complain about a $100 million streetcar but here the state wants to spend BILLIONS on ridiculously wide freeways, so we become even more dependent on the automobile. I think there are much better uses for tax money than to cover more of the city with concrete and pay for the inevitable maintenance. The only ones that benefit from this are car companies, state construction contractors, and the snow plow. Think of what we could build with $7.4 billion. We could put a small wind turbine in every backyard and cover every building in solar panels. Everyone would have clean and cheap energy forever.

I didn't want to say anything, but I'm in agreement with this. And the improvements are going to be fairly small in scope of what good they're going to do for the city when its all said and done. Add in the 30 year timeline of this, and I'm asking "why not spend this money on something better?" You could build that ENTIRE light rail system I've been pushing for this price-tag and completely change the trajectory of Omaha's transportation forever, in probably half the time it'll take to finish these road projects that will only do us any good for 5 years. Frustrating indeed.

[skinzfan23]

Absolutely agree with everyone else.

And to top that off, if they construct the roads like many of the other roads around here, they will need to be resurfaced/replaced 5 years after they complete construction.