page_title: Interstate 680 (Nebraska–Iowa)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Interstate 680 (Nebraska–Iowa) / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Interstates in today's terms I-29 I-80 I-480 (built to I-29) I-680 (west of I-29; the part east of I-29 is further north and was originally I-80N
context_page_description: Interstate 680 in Nebraska and Iowa is the northern bypass of the Omaha – Council Bluffs metropolitan area. I-680 spans 16.49 miles from its southern end in western Omaha to its eastern end near Crescent, Iowa. The freeway passes through a diverse range of scenes and terrains – the urban setting of Omaha, the Missouri River and its valley, the rugged Loess Hills, and the farmland of Pottawattamie County, Iowa.
  From 1973 until 2019, I-680 extended much farther into Iowa. It followed I-29 for 10 miles between Crescent and Loveland. It then headed east along what is now known as I-880 until it met I-80 again near Neola, Iowa. The I-880 section was originally known as Interstate 80N from 1966 until it was absorbed into I-680 in 1973. I-680 in Omaha was originally designated Interstate 280. Maps from the early and mid-1960s showed I-280 in Omaha. Since this highway would extend into Iowa, and I-280 was already planned for the Quad Cities area, this route was redesignated I-680.
context_section_description: In Nebraska, plans for Interstate 280 to bypass Omaha to the north to I-29 were drawn up in the late 1950s.  At the same time, plans were being drawn up for an Interstate 280 to bypass the Quad Cities.  Since two interstates cannot have the same designation in the same state, one of the I-280s had to be renumbered.  The Omaha I-280 was re-designated as I-680 around 1965.  In Iowa, Interstate 80N opened to traffic on December 13, 1966.  I-80N extended from the current northern interchange with I-29 near Loveland to the I-80 interchange near Neola.
  In the early 1970s, AASHTO, the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials, decided that interstates with a directional suffix, such as I-80N, would have to be renumbered.  By 1974, I-80N had been re-designated to I-680 to match Nebraska.  The last piece of I-680 to be completed in Nebraska was the westbound bridge across the Missouri River.  Paving in Iowa wrapped up in the years to come and the entire route was open to traffic by April 21, 1979.
caption: The original plans of what is now Interstate 680 around Omaha.
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