# U.S. Route 30 in Nebraska

U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is part of the United States Numbered Highway System that runs for 3,112 miles (5,008 km) from Astoria, Oregon, to Atlantic City, New Jersey. Within the state of Nebraska, it is a state highway that travels 451.74 miles (727.01 km) west to east across the state from the Wyoming state line west of Bushnell to the Missouri River in Blair on the Iowa state line. Despite not intersecting Interstate 80 (I-80) even once, much of its length until Grand Island is closely parallel with the Interstate, not being more than one or two miles (1.6 or 3.2 km) away. For most of its route, US 30 travels within the Platte River valley, adjacent to or near the river between Brule and Fremont, a distance of just over 300 miles (480 km). This corridor was also highly traveled during westward expansion along the California and Oregon trails, it was also used by the Pony Express and first transcontinental railroad. The landscape is dominated by vast agricultural fields within the fertile Platte River valley across the center of the state, while the western portion passes through higher plains and the eastern portion through the rolling hills adjacent to the Missouri River valley.
While US 30 has been mostly superseded by I-80 for long-haul travel across the state, it has been a major thoroughfare across Nebraska since the early 20th century, most notably as a central portion of the historic Lincoln Highway, an early transcontinental route from New York City to San Francisco that passed through Nebraska along the corridor that became US 30 once the route designations of the federal highway system were assigned in 1926. To showcase the historic importance of this early route across the state, the entire length of US 30 across Nebraska has been designated as the Lincoln Highway Scenic and Historic Byway, one of nine scenic byways designated by the Nebraska Department of Roads throughout the state.

## Route description

US 30 enters Nebraska just east of Pine Bluffs, Wyoming. It shares the first mile (1.6 km) in Nebraska with I-80 Business (I-80 Bus.). After passing through Bushnell, it enters Kimball, where it meets Old Highway 71 near the center of town. On the east side of Kimball, US 30 passes beneath the new Nebraska Highway 71 (N-71) bypass with access provided via Connecting Link 53E. It then continues east through Dix and Potter before meeting N-19 west of Sidney. It then passes through Sidney concurrent with another I-80 Bus. At the eastern end of Sidney, it meets US 385, and it remains concurrent with that highway through Lodgepole to Chappell. US 30 then runs straight east toward Ogallala, briefly running concurrently with N-27, intersecting US 138 north of Big Springs, and passing through Brule. After Brule, the highway is closely paralleled by the South Platte River to the south. East of Ogallala, US 30 passes through Paxton before meeting N-25 in Sutherland. After going through Hershey, it enters North Platte, where it meets US 83. It then crosses over the North Platte River above where the North and South Platte rivers meet to form the Platte River.
After leaving North Platte, US 30 turns in a southeasterly direction on an alignment north of the Platte River. It passes through Maxwell and Brady before entering Gothenburg, where it meets N-47. It continues southeast into Cozad, where it meets N-21. US 30 and N-21 run concurrent into Lexington, where N-21 separates and US 30 meets the northern end of US 283. US 30 continues southeast through Overton and meets US 183 at Elm Creek. The highway turns east there and passes through Odessa before entering Kearney. In Kearney, US 30 meets N-44 and, east of the city, passes under the new East Kearney Bypass which is the new alignment of N-10. From there, it continues on to Gibbon. US 30 passes through Gibbon, Shelton, Wood River (where it meets N-11), and Alda before entering Grand Island, all of these on an alignment which generally goes northeasterly.
In Grand Island, US 30 intersects US 281 and N-2 on the west side of Grand Island. It goes through downtown Grand Island on a pair of one-way streets, then goes northeast toward Columbus through Chapman before entering Central City. In Central City, US 30 intersects N-14. The highway continues northeast toward Clarks but meets N-92 southwest of Clarks. After Clarks, US 30 meets N-39 in Silver Creek. After going through Duncan, US 30 turns east and intersects US 81 south of Columbus. The highway turns north with US 81 to go into Columbus on a divided highway. They separate in Columbus, and US 30 turns east.
US 30 east of Columbus is a divided highway. It goes east through Richland before changing into a freeway in the Schuyler area. North of Schuyler, US 30 has an interchange with N-15. US 30 then becomes a two-lane highway east of Schuyler through Rogers and meets N-79 in North Bend. It continues east and becomes a divided highway in the Fremont area, serving as the Fremont bypass. North of Fremont, US 30 intersects US 77 and US 275, with US 275 running concurrently around Fremont with US 30. East of Fremont, US 30 continues east again, passing through Arlington before meeting N-31. US 30 turns northeast, meeting N-133 in a roundabout southwest of Blair. In Blair, US 30 then meets N-91 and US 75, which runs concurrently with US 30 in Blair. US 30 then leaves Blair and then leaves Nebraska to enter Iowa via the Blair Bridge.

## History

There were two previous alternate routes of US 30 in Nebraska. US 30S was the original route of US 30 in Nebraska. When US 30 was realigned to go between Fremont and Missouri Valley, Iowa, US 30S was created to replace the old US 30 between Fremont and Omaha. That route was decommissioned when US 275 was extended northwest from Council Bluffs, Iowa. Part of that route is today's N-64. Later, US 30A was created, which followed today's N-92 east from Clarks to Omaha. Both of these alternate routes went into Iowa at Omaha.

## Major intersections

| County | Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes |
| Kimball | Bushnell Precinct | 0.00 | 0.00 | US 30 west / I-80 BL west / Lincoln Highway | Continuation into Pine Bluffs, Wyoming |
| Kimball | Bushnell Precinct | 0.40 | 0.64 | L-53B south to I-80 | |
| Kimball | Bushnell Precinct | 9.07 | 14.60 | L-53C south to I-80 | |
| Kimball | Kimball | 22.31 | 35.90 | L-53E to I-80 / N-71 | |
| Kimball | Dix | 30.29 | 48.75 | L-53A south (Spruce Street) to I-80 | |
| Cheyenne | Potter | 39.59 | 63.71 | L-17B south to I-80 | |
| Cheyenne | Brownson | 50.13 | 80.68 | L-17C south to I-80 | Access to Road 17A – Industrial Park |
| Cheyenne | Sidney 4–Sidney 2 precinct line | 55.56 | 89.42 | N-19 south to I-80 | |
| Cheyenne | Sidney | 60.07 | 96.67 | L-17J south to I-80 | Serves Sidney Municipal Airport and Sidney Regional Medical Center |
| Cheyenne | Sidney | 60.38 | 97.17 | US 385 north – Bridgeport | Western end of US 385 overlap |
| Cheyenne | Sunol | 69.88 | 112.46 | L-17E south to I-80 | |
| Cheyenne | Lodgepole | 77.06 | 124.02 | L-17F south to I-80 | |
| Deuel | Chappell | 86.12 | 138.60 | US 385 south (Babcock Avenue) to I-80 | Eastern end of US 385 overlap |
| Deuel | Swan Precinct | 92.85 | 149.43 | N-27 north – Oshkosh | Western end of N-27 overlap |
| Deuel | Swan Precinct | 94.84 | 152.63 | N-27 south to I-80 – Julesburg | Eastern end of N-27 overlap |
| Deuel | Big Springs Precinct | 107.09 | 172.34 | US 138 west to I-80 – Big Springs | |
| Keith | Brule | 116.57 | 187.60 | L-51A south to I-80 | |
| Keith | Brule Precinct | 123.82 | 199.27 | US 26 west / N-61 north | Western end of US 26/N-61 overlap |
| Keith | Ogallala | 125.81 | 202.47 | East A Street / US 26 east / N-61 south to I-80 | Eastern end of US 26/N-61 overlap; East A St. serves Ogallala Community Hospital |
| Keith | Roscoe | 133.29 | 214.51 | L-51B south to I-80 | |
| Keith | Paxton | 144.92 | 233.23 | L-51C south to I-80 | |
| Lincoln | Sutherland Precinct | 156.52 | 251.89 | N-25 south to I-80 – Wallace | |
| Lincoln | Hershey | 163.77 | 263.56 | L-56C south to I-80 | |
| Lincoln | Hinman Precinct | 163.77 | 263.56 | Hoover Road (R-56E east) | Access to Buffalo Bill Ranch |
| Lincoln | North Platte | 176.71 | 284.39 | US 83 (Jeffers Street) to I-80 – Downtown | Serves Great Plains Health |
| Lincoln | North Platte | 179.00 | 288.07 | L-56G south to I-80 | |
| Lincoln | Maxwell | 190.48 | 306.55 | S-56A south (Pine Street) to I-80 – Fort McPherson National Cemetery | |
| Lincoln | Brady | 199.39 | 320.89 | L-56D south to I-80 | |
| Dawson | Gothenburg | 212.34 | 341.73 | Avenue D (L-24D) to I-80 / N-47 | |
| Dawson | Cozad | 222.91 | 358.74 | N-21 south (F Street) to I-80 | Western end of N-21 overlap |
| Dawson | Coyote Precinct | 231.14 | 371.98 | L-24A south to I-80 – Darr Bridge | |
| Dawson | Lexington | 236.37 | 380.40 | N-21 north (Ontario Street) to US 283 south | Eastern end of N-21 overlap; access to Adams Street |
| Dawson | Lexington | 236.94– 237.09 | 381.32– 381.56 | US 283 south (Grant Street) to I-80 | Northern terminus of US 283 |
| Dawson | Overton Precinct | 247.35 | 398.07 | L-24B south to I-80 | |
| Buffalo | Elm Creek | 256.10 | 412.15 | L-10E north to I-80 / US 183 | |
| Buffalo | Odessa | 262.95 | 423.18 | L-10B south (Odessa Road) to I-80 – Odessa | |
| Buffalo | Kearney | 272.01 | 437.76 | 2nd Avenue to I-80 | Former N-44 south; former N-10 north |
| Buffalo | Kearney | 275.08 | 442.70 | L-10F to N-10 / I-80 | |
| Buffalo | Precinct 22–Precinct 29 line | | | Keystone Road to I-80 | Former N-10 south |
| Buffalo | Gibbon | 285.06 | 458.76 | L-10C south (Center Street) to I-80 – Business District | |
| Buffalo | Shelton | 290.91 | 468.17 | L-10D south (Shelton Road) to I-80 | |
| Hall | Wood River | 298.46 | 480.32 | L-40G north (Cottonwood Street) to N-11 | |
| Hall | Alda | 306.24 | 492.85 | L-40C south to I-80 | |
| Hall | Grand Island | 312.09 | 502.26 | US 281 south / N-2 east to I-80 – Hastings, St. Paul | Interchange |
| Merrick | Central City | 336.72 | 541.90 | N-14 (17th Avenue) | |
| Merrick | Central Township | 345.64 | 556.25 | N-92 – Omaha | One-quadrant interchange; access via unsigned L-61D; N-92 east is former US 30A |
| Merrick | Silver Creek | 358.95 | 577.67 | N-39 | |
| Platte | Columbus Township | 376.47 | 605.87 | US 81 south – York | Western end of US 81 overlap |
| Platte | Loup River | 377.73 | 607.90 | Concrete bridge {eastbound} Columbus Loup River Bridge (westbound) | Concrete bridge {eastbound} Columbus Loup River Bridge (westbound) |
| Platte | Columbus | 378.45 | 609.06 | US 81 north / US 30 Alt. east (23rd Street west) | Eastern end of US 81 overlap; western terminus of US 30 Alt.; serves Columbus Community Hospital |
| Platte | Columbus | | | US 30 Alt. west (East 6th Avenue) to US 81 north | Eastern terminus of US 30 Alt.; serves Columbus Community Hospital |
| Colfax | Schuyler Precinct | 393.27 | 632.91 | County Road 9 – Schuyler | Interchange |
| Colfax | Schuyler | 395.37 | 636.29 | N-15 (Road 11) – Schuyler | Interchange |
| Dodge | Cotterell Township | 410.00 | 659.83 | N-79 | |
| Dodge | Fremont | 425.56 | 684.87 | US 77 north / US 275 west – Norfolk, South Sioux City | Interchange; western end of US 77/US 275 overlap |
| Dodge | Fremont | 429.20 | 690.73 | US 275 east / US 77 south (West Dodge Expressway) | Interchange, eastern end of US 275/US 77 overlap |
| Washington | Township 7 | 441.32 | 710.24 | N-31 south – Elkhorn | |
| Washington | Township 2 | 443.18 | 713.23 | S-89A north – Kennard | |
| Washington | Blair | 447.48 | 720.15 | N-133 south | Roundabout |
| Washington | Blair | 449.26 | 723.01 | US 75 north / Lewis and Clark Trail north (Nineteenth Street north) / N-91 west (Washington Street west) | Western end of US 75/LCT overlap |
| Washington | Blair | 449.77 | 723.83 | US 75 south (13th Street) / Lewis and Clark Trail south | Eastern end of US 75/LCT overlap |
| Missouri River | Missouri River | 451.74 | 727.01 | Blair Bridge; Nebraska–Iowa line | Blair Bridge; Nebraska–Iowa line |
| Missouri River | Missouri River | 451.74 | 727.01 | US 30 east / Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway – Missouri Valley | Continuation into Iowa |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus ||||||