Interstate 480 (Nebraska–Iowa)

Interstate 480
Interstate 480
Gerald R. Ford Expressway
	I-480 highlighted in red
Route information
	Auxiliary route of I-80
	Maintained by NDOR and Iowa DOT
Length	4.95 mi (7.97 km) Nebraska: 4.23 mi (6.81 km); Iowa: 0.721 mi (1.160 km)
Existed	November 21, 1966–present
NHS	Entire route
Major junctions
South end	I-80 / US 75 in Omaha, Neb.
	US 75 in Omaha; US 6 in Omaha;
East end	I-29 / US 6 in Council Bluffs, Iowa
Location
Country	United States
States	Nebraska; Iowa;
Counties	NE Douglas; ; IA Pottawattamie; ;
Highway system
	Interstate Highway System; Main; Auxiliary; Suffixed; Business; Future;

Interstate 480 (I-480) is a 4.90-mile-long (7.89 km) auxiliary Interstate Highway that connects Interstate 80 in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, with Interstate 29 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The portion of I-480 in Nebraska has been named the Gerald R. Ford Expressway, named in honor of the former President, who was a native of Omaha. For most of its length, I-480 is overlapped by a U.S. Highway; for two miles (3.2 km) with U.S. Route 75 and for one mile (1.6 km) with U.S. Route 6. I-480 includes the Grenville Dodge Memorial Bridge over the Missouri River.

Route description

Interstate 480 begins at an interchange with Interstate 80 to the east and west and with U.S. Route 75, known as the Kennedy Freeway, to the south. Going north, I-480 passes the Hanscom Park neighborhood to the west and the Vinton Street Commercial Historic District to the east. At exit 1A, I-480 intersects Martha Street, which before January 1, 2003, was the eastern end of Nebraska Highway 38.^[5] North of Martha Street, I-480 passes the Gerald R. Ford Birthsite and Gardens. At the Leavenworth Street exit, the highway divides the Leavenworth neighborhood from the Old Market neighborhood. Shortly after the Leavenworth Street exit is the Harney Street exit, which provides access to U.S. Route 6 from eastbound I-480. before the North Freeway interchange, I-480 passes beneath Dodge and Douglas Streets, which are the westbound and eastbound lanes of U.S. 6, respectively.

Just to the southwest of the Creighton University campus is the North Freeway interchange, where US 75 leaves eastbound I-480 and joins westbound. The North Freeway was originally planned to be an Interstate Highway, "I-580", connecting northern Omaha to downtown, but this project was canceled with the interchange in midst of construction. A number of so-called ghost ramps can be found, but these are being eliminated during the reconstruction of this interchange. Here, I-480 turns to the east towards Council Bluffs, Iowa. I-480 passes between the NoDo and Downtown Omaha neighborhoods. Farther east, it dips to the southeast near CenturyLink Center Omaha, part of the "NoDo" neighborhood. Immediately before crossing the Missouri River, U.S. Route 6 joins I-480 to cross into Iowa. This bridge over the Missouri River was constructed in 1965 – 66 to replace the old Ak-Sar-Ben Bridge which had been the first highway bridge across the river in this area.

Upon entering Council Bluffs, I-480 meets up with Interstate 29 just 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) from the Missouri River.^[2] On the other side of this interchange, I-480 ends where U.S. 6 traffic encounters signal-controlled intersections.

History

In the late 1950s the construction of what was then referred to as Route 3 was highly controversial. It conveniently crossed through the western and northern edges of Downtown Omaha, two areas city leaders had considered "blighted" since the 1930s. The heavily Catholic, ethnic European neighborhoods the route went through rallied against the demolition of their homes, and the city's parks advocates provided resistance as well. Eventually the Interstate planners won out, and the city's historic Jefferson Square was demolished, as well as dozens of homes along the route.^[6]

In 1999, a bill was introduced in the United States House of Representatives that would have extended I-480 south along U.S. Highway 75 in southern Omaha and in Bellevue, Nebraska, then east through Plattsmouth to connect with Interstate 29 near Glenwood, Iowa, increasing the length of Interstate 480 to 19 miles (31 km). However, this bill was tabled in the committee.

In 2004, the Nebraska Department of Roads began a project to reconstruct the I-480 / US 75 interchange. Work took place in three phases spread out over the course of six years. The final phase of the $52-million ($70.4 million in 2024^[7]) project was funded with $13 million ($17.6 million in 2024^[7]) in American Recovery & Reinvestment Act stimulus money.^[8] The project was completed in May 2011 just in time for the College World Series.^[9]

Exit list

State	County	Location	mi^[1]^[2]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Nebraska	Douglas	Omaha	0.00	0.00	452C	US 75 south (Kennedy Freeway) / I-80 – Offutt AFB, Lincoln, Des Moines	Southern end of US 75 overlap; exit 452C is for I-80 westbound; exit number based on I-80 mileage; I-80 exit 452; continues south as US 75 (Kennedy Freeway)
			0.89	1.43	1A	Martha Street	Former N-38
			1.81	2.91	1B	Leavenworth Street	Northbound exit and southbound entrance only
			1.89	3.04	2A	Harney Street / Dodge Street (US 6 west)	No southbound exit
			2.25	3.62	2B	30th Street / Dodge Street (US 6 west)	No northbound exit
			2.54	4.09	2C	US 75 north (North Freeway) – Creighton University, Event Center–Ballpark, Eppley Airfield	Northern end of US 75 overlap; former I-580
			3.20	5.15	2D	20th Street – Auditorium / Capitol Avenue	Eastbound exit only
						17th Street / Chicago Street	Westbound entrance only
			3.52	5.66	3	14th Street – Event Center–Ballpark, Old Market District, Creighton University	No westbound entrance; signed as exit 3A eastbound
			3.52	5.66		13th Street	Westbound entrance only
			4.00	6.44	4	US 6 west (Dodge Street) – Event Center–Ballpark, Eppley Airfield	One-way street; western end of US 6 overlap; westbound exit only; former US 75 south
			4.00	6.44	4	US 6 (Douglas Street)	One-way street; western end of US 6 overlap; eastbound entrance only; former US 75
Missouri River			4.23 0.000	6.81 0.000	Grenville Dodge Memorial Bridge
Iowa	Pottawattamie	Council Bluffs	0.274	0.441	0	Riverfront	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance only
Iowa	Pottawattamie	Council Bluffs	0.721	1.160	—	I-29 / US 6 east to I-80 – Sioux City, Kansas City, Council Bluffs	Continues as Broadway
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus Incomplete access

References

^ ^a ^b "Nebraska Highway Reference Log Book" (PDF). Nebraska Department of Roads. 2015. pp. 309–310. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c 2009 Volume of Traffic on the Primary Road System of Iowa (PDF) (Report). Iowa Department of Transportation. January 1, 2009. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
^ Federal Highway Administration. "Route Log – Auxiliary Routes of the Eisenhower National System Of Interstate and Defense Highways – Table 2". Retrieved March 7, 2010.
^ Iowa Department of Transportation (1996). The National System of Interstate Defense Highways 1956–1996.
^ "End of the historic road as Nebraska Highway 38 goes off the map". Omaha World-Herald. January 10, 2003.
^ Daly-Bednarek, Janet R. (November 1, 1992). The Changing Image of the City: Planning for Downtown Omaha, 1945-1973. University of Nebraska Press. pp. 152, 177. ISBN 0-8032-1692-0.
^ ^a ^b 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^ "Grant – Award Summary". American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Retrieved August 18, 2012.
^ Staff (2011). "I480/US75 Interchange Downtown Omaha" (PDF). Annual Report. Nebraska Department of Roads. p. 12. Retrieved August 18, 2012.

KML file (edit • help)

Template:Attached KML/Interstate 480 (Nebraska–Iowa)

KML is from Wikidata

[NDOR_log-1] "Nebraska Highway Reference Log Book" (PDF). Nebraska Department of Roads. 2015. pp. 309–310. Retrieved January 8, 2017.

[IowaDOT-2] 2009 Volume of Traffic on the Primary Road System of Iowa (PDF) (Report). Iowa Department of Transportation. January 1, 2009. Retrieved July 21, 2010.

[FHWA-3] Federal Highway Administration. "Route Log – Auxiliary Routes of the Eisenhower National System Of Interstate and Defense Highways – Table 2". Retrieved March 7, 2010.

[IA_DOT_Interstates-4] Iowa Department of Transportation (1996). The National System of Interstate Defense Highways 1956–1996.

[OWH2003-5] "End of the historic road as Nebraska Highway 38 goes off the map". Omaha World-Herald. January 10, 2003.

[Planning_Omaha-6] Daly-Bednarek, Janet R. (November 1, 1992). The Changing Image of the City: Planning for Downtown Omaha, 1945-1973. University of Nebraska Press. pp. 152, 177. ISBN 0-8032-1692-0.

[inflation-US-7] 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.

[8] "Grant – Award Summary". American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Retrieved August 18, 2012.

[9] Staff (2011). "I480/US75 Interchange Downtown Omaha" (PDF). Annual Report. Nebraska Department of Roads. p. 12. Retrieved August 18, 2012.

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v t e Auxiliary routes of Interstate 80
California 180¹ 238 280 380 480¹ 580 680 780 880 880¹ 980 Business Oregon 80N¹ Nevada 580 Business Idaho 80N¹ 180N¹ Utah 80N¹ Business Wyoming 180 Business Colorado 80S¹ Nebraska 80S¹ 180 280¹ 480 580¹ 680 Iowa 80N¹ 280 380 480 680 880 Illinois 180 280 Ohio 80N¹ 80S¹ 280 380² --> 480 480N 680 Pennsylvania 80N¹ 80S¹ 180 180¹ 280¹ 380 480¹ 680¹ New Jersey 80S¹ 280 680¹
¹Former
²Proposed

v t e Transportation in Omaha metropolitan area
Interstate highways	I-29 I-80 I-480 (Gerald R. Ford Expwy.) I-680
Freeways	Kennedy Freeway (US 75) North Freeway (US 75) West Dodge Expressway US 6 L-28B US 275
Major surface highways	US 6 West Dodge Road Dodge Street Douglas Street US 34 US 75 30th Street McKinley Street 48th Street US 275 / N-92 West Center Road Industrial Road L Street Missouri Avenue Veterans Memorial Highway US 275 / Iowa 92
Other state routes	L-28K N-31 N-36 N-50 N-64 N-85 N-133 Iowa 165 N-370
Airports	Eppley Airfield Millard Airport North Omaha Airport Council Bluffs Municipal Airport
Public transit	Metro Transit ORBT Omaha station
Waterways	Missouri River Port of Omaha Glenn Cunningham Lake
Other	Trails in Omaha Automobile Row
Related templates Boulevards Railroads Bridges Streetcars Streets

v t e Bridges in Omaha, Nebraska
Bridges	Union Pacific Missouri River Bridge Douglas Street Bridge Mormon Bridge South Omaha Bridge I-480 bridge East Omaha Bridge
Other types	Saddle Creek Underpass O Street Viaduct Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge
Related templates Transportation Boulevards Railroads Streetcars Streets