Abbott Drive is a roadway mostly in

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

, United States, but passes briefly through Carter Lake,

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. It is the easternmost link in Omaha's Park and Boulevard System that connects the eastern edge of

Creighton University Creighton University is a private Jesuit research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate and undergra ...

and North Downtown Omaha or

NoDo Downtown Omaha is the central business, government and social core of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area, U.S. state of Nebraska. The boundaries are Omaha's 20th Street on the west to the Missouri River on the east and the centerline ...

to Carter Lake, Iowa,

Eppley Airfield Eppley Airfield , also known as Omaha Airport, is an airport in the midwestern United States, located northeast of downtown Omaha, Nebraska. On the west bank of the Missouri River in Douglas County, it is the largest airport in Nebraska, with ...

to John J Pershing Drive on the eastern end of

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, Nebraska. Considered "Omaha's gateway", the drive includes a distinctive "string of pearls" lighting feature. In Carter Lake, the section is designated as Iowa Highway 165 (Iowa 165). That section of Abbott Drive is the shortest state highway in Iowa and second-shortest in the Iowa highway system overall. Only the Iowa portion of

Interstate 129 Interstate 129 (I-129) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway which connects South Sioux City to I-29 in Sioux City, Iowa. Opened in 1976, I-129 is a route, running in Nebraska. At , I-129 is the shortest highway in the state of Iowa. All of ...

is shorter at . Iowa 165 is entirely within the town of Carter Lake and is the only Iowa highway west of the Missouri River.

Route description

Carter Lake, Iowa

Iowa 165 is the section of Omaha's Abbott Drive which passes briefly through the

enclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

of Carter Lake, Iowa. The route is fully signed; complete with Iowa welcome and

Adopt-a-Highway The Adopt-a-Highway program, and the very similar Sponsor-a-Highway, are promotional campaigns undertaken by U.S. states, provinces and territories of Canada, and some national governments outside North America to encourage volunteers to keep ...

signs on both ends. Abbott Drive in Omaha is not a state highway, so it does not have any state line signage. Abbott Drive in both states is included in the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

's National Highway System.

Omaha, Nebraska

Abbott Drive continues north as an unmarked divided boulevard north from Avenue G, which is the Iowa-Nebraska state line. It wraps around Carter Lake and borders

. The Arthur C. Storz Expressway branches westward, and approximately later the divided roadway ends. At North 9th Street the road becomes John J. Pershing Drive.

History

Abbott Drive was built in the 1950s, connecting the area of

downtown Omaha Downtown Omaha is the central business, government and social core of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area, U.S. state of Nebraska. The boundaries are Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha's 20th Street on the west to the Missouri River on the east and ...

where the

Union Pacific Railroad Omaha Shops Facility The Union Pacific Railroad Omaha Shops Facility was a shop for the trains of the Union Pacific located at North 9th and Webster in Downtown Omaha. With the first locomotives arriving in 1865, it took until the 1950s for the facility to become the m ...

is with Eppley Airfield in

East Omaha East Omaha is a geographically designated community located in Omaha, Nebraska. Located three miles (5 km) from downtown Omaha, East Omaha is the site of Eppley Omaha International Airport, Omaha's main airport, and Carter Lake. This area was ...

. One of the

Kountze Kountze ( ) is a city in Hardin County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,981 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Hardin County. The city is part of the Beaumont– Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. Kountze was orig ...

descendants built businesses along the drive in the 1970s, including the Easy Parking Company, which was one of the first parking companies in the United States. It moved from its early offices at the Omaha Grain Exchange and built Abbott Drive at Locust Street near Eppley Airfield in 1974. The

Freedom Park In the Philippines, a freedom park is a centrally located public space where political gatherings, rallies and demonstrations may be held without the need of prior permission from government authorities. Similar to free speech zones in the United S ...

is located just off Abbott. After Eppley Airfield was built in the river bottoms to the east of Carter Lake, the shortest route from downtown Omaha to the airport was Abbott Drive which was routed through Carter Lake. Carter Lake initially maintained its section as a municipal road. In 1957, when plans were made to upgrade the airport to accommodate jet aircraft, the Iowa Department of Transportation took over the road. In the late 1990s and early 2000s a redevelopment project situated Omaha's new Qwest Convention Center, now known as

CHI Health Center Omaha CHI Health Center Omaha is an arena and convention center in the central United States, located in the North Downtown neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska. Operated by the Metropolitan Entertainment & Convention Authority (MECA), the facility has a ...

, and the operational headquarters of the

Gallup Organization Gallup, Inc. is an American analytics and advisory company based in Washington, D.C. Founded by George Gallup in 1935, the company became known for its public opinion polls conducted worldwide. Starting in the 1980s, Gallup transitioned its ...

along Abbott Drive.Larsen, L.H. (2007) ''Upstream metropolis: An urban biography of Omaha and Council Bluffs.''

University of Nebraska Press The University of Nebraska Press, also known as UNP, was founded in 1941 and is an academic publisher of scholarly and general-interest books. The press is under the auspices of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the main campus of the Univer ...

. p 410. An extensive revitalization process led to the installation of the "string of pearls" lighting, along with other improvements. This was funded by the

Peter Kiewit Foundation Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

Major intersections

Notes

References

External links

{{OmahaTransport Transportation in Omaha, Nebraska Streets in Omaha, Nebraska Transportation in Pottawattamie County, Iowa 165