U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is part of the United States Numbered Highway System that runs for from

Astoria, Oregon Astoria is a port city and the seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the northwest corne ...

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

. Within the state of Nebraska it is a state highway that travels west to east across the state from the Wyoming state line west of Bushnell to the Missouri River in

Blair Blair is an English-language name of Scottish Gaelic origin. The surname is derived from any of the numerous places in Scotland called ''Blair'', derived from the Scottish Gaelic ''blàr'', meaning "plain", "meadow" or "field", frequently a “ba ...

on the Iowa state line. For much of its length it travels within the Platte River valley, adjacent or near the river between Brule and Fremont, a distance of just over . This corridor was also highly traveled during

Westward Expansion The United States of America was created on July 4, 1776, with the U.S. Declaration of Independence of thirteen British colonies in North America. In the Lee Resolution two days prior, the colonies resolved that they were free and independent ...

along the California and Oregon Trails, it was also used by the Pony Express and the 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 While US 30 has been mostly superseded by

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...

for long-haul travel across the state, it has been a major thoroughfare across Nebraska since the early twentieth century, most notably as a central portion of the historic Lincoln Highway, an early transcontinental route from

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

to San Francisco, California 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

U.S. Highway 30 enters Nebraska just east of

Pine Bluffs, Wyoming Pine Bluffs is a town in eastern Laramie County, Wyoming, United States. It is located on the county's border with Nebraska. Pine Bluffs is part of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,129 at the 2010 census ...

. It shares the first mile in Nebraska with

Business Loop 80 Interstate 80 Business (I-80 Bus), called the Capital City Freeway in its entirety and also known as Business 80, is a business loop of Interstate 80 (I-80) through Sacramento, California, United States. The route is also collo ...

. After passing through Bushnell, it enters

Kimball Kimball may refer to: People *Kimball (surname) * Kimball (given name) Places Canada * Kimball, Alberta United States * Kellogg, Iowa, formerly known as Kimball * Kimball, Kansas * Kimball, Minnesota * Kimball, Nebraska, a city * Kimball, South ...

, 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 Nebraska Highway 71 is a highway in western Nebraska. Its southern terminus is at the Colorado border south of Kimball, as a continuation of Colorado State Highway 71. Its northern terminus is at the South Dakota border northwest of Crawford, w ...

bypass with access provided via Link 53E. It then continues east through

Dix DIX or Dix may refer to: Computing * Danish Internet Exchange Point, in Copenhagen * Data Integrity Extensions, data corruption error-handling field in data storage technology * Device Independent X, part of the 2D graphics device driver in ...

and Potter before meeting Nebraska Highway 19 west of

Sidney Sidney may refer to: People * Sidney (surname), English surname * Sidney (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Sidney (footballer, born 1972), full name Sidney da Silva Souza, Brazilian football defensive midfielder * ...

. It then passes through Sidney concurrent with

. At the eastern end of Sidney, it meets

U.S. Highway 385 U.S. Route 385 (US 385) is a spur of U.S. Route 85 that runs for 1,206 miles (1,941 km) from Deadwood, South Dakota to Big Bend National Park in Texas. Route description , - , TX , 545 , 877 , - , OK , 36 , 58 , - , CO , 317 , 510 ...

, and it remains concurrent with that highway through Lodgepole to

Chappell Chappell may refer to: Places * Chappell, Nebraska, United States * Chappells, South Carolina, United States * Chappell (crater) on the moon * Mount Chappell Island, Tasmania, Australia * North West Mount Chappell Islet, Tasmania, Australia Organi ...

. U.S. 30 then runs straight east towards Ogallala, briefly running concurrently with

Nebraska Highway 27 Nebraska Highway 27 is a highway in Nebraska. It is divided into three segments. The southernmost segment begins at the Kansas border and goes north to Haigler. The middle segment begins at Interstate 80 near Chappell and goes north to Oshko ...

, intersecting

U.S. Highway 138 U.S. Highway 138 (US 138), commissioned in 1926, is an east–west U.S. Highway in Colorado and Nebraska that travels predominantly northeast to southwest, paralleling the South Platte River and Interstate 76 (I-76). Similarly to th ...

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, U.S. 30 passes through Paxton before meeting Nebraska Highway 25 in

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire (later ...

. After going through

Hershey Hershey may refer to: People * Hershey (name), a list of people with the surname, given name or nickname Places * Hershey, Nebraska, a village * Hershey, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community, home to the chocolate company * Hershey, Cuba, ...

, it enters

North Platte North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

, where it meets

U.S. Highway 83 U.S. Route 83 (US 83) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that extends in the central United States. Only four other north–south routes are longer: US 1, US 41, US 59, and US 87, while US ...

. 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, U.S. 30 turns in a southeasterly direction on an alignment north of the Platte River. It passes through

Maxwell Maxwell may refer to: People * Maxwell (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** James Clerk Maxwell, mathematician and physicist * Justice Maxwell (disambiguation) * Maxwell baronets, in the Baronetage o ...

and Brady before entering

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

, where it meets

Nebraska Highway 47 Nebraska Highway 47 is a highway in Nebraska. It is a highway split into two segments. The southern segment runs for between Nebraska Highway 89 near Wilsonville and U.S. Highway 6 and U.S. Highway 34 in Cambridge. The northern segment runs ...

. It continues southeast into Cozad, where it meets Nebraska Highway 21. U.S. 30 and Highway 21 run concurrent into Lexington, where Highway 21 separates and U.S. 30 meets the northern end of

U.S. Highway 283 U.S. Route 283 is a spur of U.S. Route 83. It currently runs for 731 miles (1,175 km) from Brady, Texas at U.S. Route 87 to Lexington, Nebraska at U.S. Route 30. It passes through the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. Route de ...

. U.S. 30 continues southeast through Overton and meets

U.S. Highway 183 U.S. Route 183 (US 183) is a north–south United States highway. The highway's northern terminus is in Presho, South Dakota, at an intersection with Interstate 90. Its southern terminus is in Refugio, Texas, at the southern intersection ...

at Elm Creek. The highway turns east there and passes through

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

before entering Kearney. In Kearney, U.S. 30 meets Nebraska Highway 44, and east of the city passes under the new East Kearney Bypass which is the new alignment of Nebraska Highway 10. From there it continues on to

Gibbon Gibbons () are apes in the family Hylobatidae (). The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical rainforest from eastern Bangladesh to Northeast India ...

. U.S. 30 passes through Gibbon, Shelton, Wood River (where it meets Nebraska Highway 11) and Alda before entering Grand Island, all of these on an alignment which generally goes northeasterly. In Grand Island, U.S. Highway 30 intersects

U.S. Highway 281 U.S. Route 281 (US 281) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway. At it is the longest continuous three-digit U.S. Route. The highway's northern terminus is at the International Peace Garden, north of Dunseith, North Dakota, at t ...

and Nebraska Highway 2 on the west side of Grand Island. It goes through downtown Grand Island on a pair of one-way streets, then goes northeast towards Columbus through

Chapman Chapman may refer to: Businesses * Chapman Entertainment, a former British television production company * Chapman Guitars, a guitar company established in 2009 by Rob Chapman * Chapman's, a Canadian ice cream and ice water products manufacturer ...

before entering Central City. In Central City, U.S. 30 intersects Nebraska Highway 14. The highway continues northeast towards Clarks, but meets Nebraska Highway 92 southwest of Clarks. After Clarks, U.S. 30 meets Nebraska Highway 39 in Silver Creek. After going through

Duncan Duncan may refer to: People * Duncan (given name), various people * Duncan (surname), various people * Clan Duncan * Justice Duncan (disambiguation) Places * Duncan Creek (disambiguation) * Duncan River (disambiguation) * Duncan Lake (d ...

, U.S. 30 turns east and intersects U.S. Highway 81 south of

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

. The highway turns north with U.S. 81 to go into Columbus on a divided highway. They separate in Columbus and U.S. 30 turns east. U.S. 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, U.S. 30 has an interchange with Nebraska Highway 15. U.S. 30 then becomes a two-lane highway east of Schuyler through Rogers and meets Nebraska Highway 79 in North Bend. It continues east and becomes a divided highway in the Fremont area, serving as the Fremont bypass. North of Fremont, U.S. 30 intersects

U.S. Highway 77 U.S. Route 77 (US 77) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway which extends for in the central United States. As of 2005, Its southern terminus is in Brownsville, Texas, at Veteran's International Bridge on the Mexican border, whe ...

and U.S. Highway 275, with U.S. 275 running concurrently around Fremont with U.S. 30. East of Fremont, U.S. 30 continues east again, passing through Arlington before meeting Nebraska Highway 31. U.S. 30 turns northeast, meeting

Nebraska Highway 133 Nebraska Highway 133 is a highway in eastern Nebraska. Its southern terminus is at an intersection with U.S. Highway 6 in Omaha. Its northern terminus is at an intersection with U.S. Highway 30 in Blair. Route description Nebraska Highway 1 ...

in a

roundabout A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford En ...

southwest of

. In Blair, U.S. 30 then meets Nebraska Highway 91 and U.S. Highway 75, which runs concurrently with U.S. 30 in Blair. U.S. 30 then leaves Blair, and then leaves Nebraska to enter Iowa via the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Bridge.

History

There were two previous alternate routes of US 30 in Nebraska. U.S. Route 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 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 ...

. That route was decommissioned when US 275 was extended northwest from

Council Bluffs, Iowa Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The city is the most populous in Southwest Iowa, and is the third largest and a primary city of the Omaha–Council Bluffs ...

. Part of that route is today's Nebraska Highway 64. Later, U.S. Route 30A was created, which followed today's Nebraska Highway 92 east from Clarks to Omaha. Both of these alternate routes went into Iowa at Omaha.

Major intersections

References

External links

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References

External links