Nebraska Highway 2 (N-2) is a

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

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 ...

consisting of two discontinuous segments. The western segment begins at the

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

border northwest of

Crawford Crawford may refer to: Places Canada * Crawford Bay Airport, British Columbia * Crawford Lake Conservation Area, Ontario United Kingdom * Crawford, Lancashire, a small village near Rainford, Merseyside, England * Crawford, South Lanarkshire, a ...

and ends southeast of Grand Island at an intersection with

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 ...

(I-80). The eastern segment begins in

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln ...

and ends at the

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 ...

border at

Nebraska City Nebraska City is a city in Nebraska, and the county seat of, Otoe County, Nebraska, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,289. The Nebraska State Legislature has credited Nebraska City as being the oldest incorporated ...

. Previously, the two segments were connected via a route shared with

U.S. Highway 34 U.S. Route 34 (US 34) is an east–west United States highway that runs for from north-central Colorado to the western suburbs of Chicago. Through Rocky Mountain National Park it is known as the Trail Ridge Road where it reaches elevation ...

(US 34) between Grand Island and Lincoln.

Route description

Western segment

The western segment of N-2 begins at the

border north of

in a concurrency with

N-71 N71 may refer to: Roads * N71 road (Ireland) * Nebraska Highway 71, in the United States Other uses * N71 (Long Island bus) * Nokia N71 The Nokia N71 is a smartphone announced by Nokia on 2 November 2005 and released in June 2006. It was No ...

. The road goes east, southeast, and then south into Crawford. In Crawford, there is a concurrency with US 20. N-2 and N-71 both continue south from Crawford through

Marsland, Nebraska Marsland is an unincorporated community in southwestern Dawes County, Nebraska, United States. It lies on the Niobrara River along Nebraska Highways 2 and 71, 18 miles south of Crawford, and southwest of the city of Chadron, the county seat of ...

. The two highways split west of

Hemingford, Nebraska Hemingford is a village in Box Butte County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 803 at the 2010 census. History Hemingford was incorporated as a village in 1886. The founder being a native of Hemmingford, Quebec, caused the name to b ...

and N-2 turns east towards Hemingford. At Hemingford, N-2 turns southeast towards

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

. At Berea, N-2 meets US 385 and the two overlap into

. At Alliance, N-2 goes east into the Sand Hills. It goes through several small towns, including Hyannis,

Mullen Mullen is a surname of Irish and Scottish origin. Notable people with the surname include: * Alex Mullen (born 1992), Australian professional footballer *Andrew Mullen (born 1996), British Paralympian swimmer *Ann A. Mullen (1935–1994), Ameri ...

and Thedford. In Thedford, N-2 briefly overlaps US 83. East of Thedford, near Halsey, is the

Nebraska National Forest The Nebraska National Forest is a United States National Forest located within the U.S. state of Nebraska. The total area of the national forest is 141,864 acres, or 222 sq miles (574 km2). The forest is managed by the U.S. Forest Service's ...

. At Dunning, N-2 intersects

N-91 N91 may refer to: * , a submarine of the Royal Navy * London Buses route N91 * Nebraska Highway 91, in the United States * Nokia N91 The Nokia N91 is a smartphone produced by Nokia as part of their Nseries line of portable devices. It was announ ...

and turns southeasterly towards Broken Bow and Grand Island. After turning southeasterly at Dunning, N-2 meets

N-92 N92 may refer to: * Alawa language * , a submarine of the Royal Navy * Nebraska Highway 92, in the United States * Nokia N92, a mobile phone * Vaginal bleeding Vaginal bleeding is any expulsion of blood from the vagina. This bleeding may originat ...

in Merna. The two highways overlap through Broken Bow and separate when they meet US 183 in Ansley. N-2 meets N-10 in

Hazard A hazard is a potential source of harm Harm is a moral and legal concept. Bernard Gert construes harm as any of the following: * pain * death * disability * mortality * loss of abil ity or freedom * loss of pleasure. Joel Feinberg giv ...

N-68 N68 may refer to: Roads * Andaya Highway, in the Philippines * N68 road (Ireland) * Nebraska Highway 68, in the United States Other uses * Escadrille N.68, a unit of the French Air Force * Franklin County Regional Airport, in Pennsylvania, Un ...

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...

and

N-11 N11 or N-11 may refer to: Roads * N11 (South Africa) * N11 highway, Philippines * N11 motorway (Netherlands) * N11 road (Ghana) * N11 road (Ireland) * Nebraska Highway 11, United States * Route nationale 11, France Other uses * N11 (emission nebu ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

. On the northwest edge of Grand Island, N-2 becomes a four-lane divided highway and then encounters US 281. N-2 then follows US 281 along the western edge of Grand Island until it meets US 34 and then those two routes overlap through the southern edge of Grand Island. N-2 and US 34 cross the

Platte River The Platte River () is a major river in the State of Nebraska. It is about long; measured to its farthest source via its tributary, the North Platte River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which itself ...

and shortly thereafter, they separate and N-2 turns south towards

(I-80). At I-80, the western segment of N-2 ends.

Eastern segment

The eastern segment of N-2 begins as the Lincoln South Beltway, a

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

south of

, at a

semi-directional T interchange In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, using ...

with US 77. Passing by Lincoln to the south, N-2 becomes a four-lane divided highway following a

diamond interchange A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a controlled-access highway crosses a minor road. Design The freeway itself is grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge. Approaching the ...

with Nebraska Parkway, its former alignment through the city, southeast of it. It soon encounters several small towns and highways. It meets

N-43 N43 may refer to: * N43 (Long Island bus) * BMW N43, an automobile engine * Braden Airpark in Easton, Pennsylvania, United States * Nebraska Highway 43, in the United States * Nyungwe language Nyungwe (''Cinyungwe'' or Nhungue) is a Bantu lan ...

north of Bennet and overlaps it for , until shortly before

Palmyra Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early second ...

. Near

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

, there is a bypass of that community and there is a freeway exit for

N-50 N50 may refer to: Roads * N50 road (Ireland) * N50 road (Netherlands) * N-50 National Highway, in Pakistan * Nebraska Highway 50, in the United States Other uses * N50 (Long Island bus) * Acer N50, a PDA * Gaagudju language * , a mine cont ...

. It continues east and near

, it meets US 75 and the two highways are together briefly until the southern edge of Nebraska City. Also at this intersection, N-2 Business begins and goes through Nebraska City. After they separate, N-2 heads east and then northeast, meets the eastern end of N-2 Business and crosses the Missouri River over the

Nebraska City Bridge The Nebraska City Bridge is a four-lane girder bridge over the Missouri River connecting Otoe County, Nebraska with Fremont County, Iowa at Nebraska City, Nebraska. The bridge built in 1986 bypasses the central business district and replaced th ...

and enters Iowa. In Iowa, the highway continues as

Iowa Highway 2 Iowa Highway 2 (Iowa 2) is a state highway which runs across the southernmost tier of counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. At no point along its route is Iowa 2 more than from the Missouri state line, except for a small section near its ea ...

. The eastern segment of N-2 serves as part of a connecting route, along with US 77, between

I-29 Interstate 29 (I-29) is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern United States. I-29 runs from Kansas City, Missouri, at a junction with I-35 and I-70, to the Canada–US border near Pembina, North Dakota, where it connects with Manitoba P ...

in Iowa and

I-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 ...

in Lincoln. It allows traffic coming from

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

to go to Lincoln and points west of Lincoln to bypass

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 ...

. To better facilitate this link between I-80 and I-29, in February 2020, the Nebraska DOT began a major project to construct the Lincoln South Beltway to carry N-2. This modern divided and controlled access freeway will give a direct route from 120th Street to US 77 near Saltillo. Construction was planned for completion in 2023. The beltway opened to traffic on December 14, 2022, six months ahead of expected in May 2023. However, the interchanges at Bennet Road-Jamaica Avenue and 82nd Street-84th Street are not expected to open until May 2024. The eastern segment of Nebraska Highway 2 has the commemorative name of Jerome and Betty Warner Memorial Highway. The portion of the highway east of the west U.S. 75 junction to the Nebraska City Bridge in the Nebraska City area is known as the

J. Sterling Morton Julius Sterling Morton (April 22, 1832 – April 27, 1902) was a Nebraska newspaper editor and politician who served as President Grover Cleveland's United States Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Agriculture. He was a prominent Bourbon Dem ...

Beltway, in honor of the creator of

Arbor Day Arbor Day (or Arbour in some countries) is a secular day of observance in which individuals and groups are encouraged to plant trees. Today, many countries observe such a holiday. Though usually observed in the spring, the date varies, dependi ...

and the former

Secretary of Agriculture The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments. The department includes several organi ...

Major intersections

References

External links

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Nebraska Roads: NE 1-10