$1.5 billion I-80/29 reconstruction project

[riceweb]

I'll kick rocks the day CB has a traffic problem. Heh. I think its funny they did this, but don't want a streetcar.

I really doubt CB (1) had much/any direct control over this project since it's a state/federal thing, (2) they paid much/any for it as the state and feds did most of this, and (3) the state of Iowa is a sponge for federal money. I'm pretty sure Iowa isn't even a real state, it's just a vehicle to pay highway contractors.

[Greg S]

I will say what they built will be sufficient for decades.

[GenX]

The speed limit, in areas where it was previously 55 mph, has been raised to 65 mph

[Erik]

I really like how this reconstruction was built in CB.

[Stan]

The speed limit, in areas where it was previously 55 mph, has been raised to 65 mph

Even the state of Iowa wants people to move quicker through Council Bluffs.

[Greg S]

I really like how this reconstruction was built in CB.

I do too.

[Mapguy]

I wish they would do a similar layout with an express to separate all the through traffic. Say an express starting between 42nd and 60th (after the connection with 480)and ending at Giles Rd.

I think this would help traffic flow immensely.

[halgy]

I wish they would do a similar layout with an express to separate all the through traffic. Say an express starting between 42nd and 60th (after the connection with 480)and ending at Giles Rd.

I think this would help traffic flow immensely.

When Iowa put in the express lanes, I assumed that the plan was to extend them across the river to enable a bypass of Omaha as well. Otherwise, I don't see how having fully separate express lanes to skip 2 exits in CB would be worth it. Considering all of the extra space needed for the duplicate ramps etc, I still doubt it would be worth it. Honestly, it might work half as well to just put up signs saying the inner two lanes of I-80 in Omaha are for through traffic, and the rest are for local traffic, and see if people stick to it.

[remline]

When Iowa put in the express lanes, I assumed that the plan was to extend them across the river to enable a bypass of Omaha as well. Otherwise, I don't see how having fully separate express lanes to skip 2 exits in CB would be worth it. Considering all of the extra space needed for the duplicate ramps etc, I still doubt it would be worth it. Honestly, it might work half as well to just put up signs saying the inner two lanes of I-80 in Omaha are for through traffic, and the rest are for local traffic, and see if people stick to it.

I agree, the express lanes seem like way more infrastructure than is needed. Maybe the traffic is higher during some parts of the day, and I just haven't experienced it at those times? Or perhaps they are wanting to be ready for the traffic 30 years in the future? Regardless, a minor disadvantage (at least for me) is the overwhelming number of highway signs that I need to parse when driving through CB.

[thenewguy]

truthfully, traffic used to be pretty full on the interstate prior to the reconstruction. The express lane has done a lot to lessen the amount of merging and slowdowns that used to occur

[skinzfan23]

I agree, the design before was horrible and the pavement was in sad shape. It was never designed to handle the amount of traffic that it gets. Its hard to remember, but there used to be backups all the time going into and coming from Omaha due to the overcapacity on the stretch in CB.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

I think the part of the initial idea behind having the express lanes and the capacity is that the amount of truck traffic would continue to grow as rapidly as it had been. I don’t believe they’re seeing as much truck traffic as they anticipated.