Nebraska Highway 2 (N-2) is a state highway in

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 sout ...

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

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

border northwest of Crawford and ends southeast of Grand Island at an intersection with Interstate 80 (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. * Lincol ...

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 th ...

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 (US 34) between Grand Island and Lincoln.

Route description

Western segment

The western segment of N-2 begins at the

border north of Crawford in a concurrency with N-71. 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. 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 and Thedford. In Thedford, N-2 briefly overlaps US 83. East of Thedford, near Halsey, is the Nebraska National Forest. At Dunning, N-2 intersects

N-91 N91 may refer to: * , a submarine of the Royal Navy * London Buses route N91 * Nebraska Highway 91 Nebraska Highway 91 is a highway in central and eastern Nebraska. Its western terminus is at an intersection with Nebraska Highway 2 north of Dun ...

and turns southeasterly towards Broken Bow and Grand Island. After turning southeasterly at Dunning, N-2 meets N-92 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,

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 ca ...

and N-11 in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

. 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 itsel ...

and shortly thereafter, they separate and N-2 turns south towards Interstate 80 (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, usi ...

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 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 secon ...

. Near Syracuse, there is a bypass of that community and there is a freeway exit for N-50. 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 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 e ...

. 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 ...

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 to go to Lincoln and points west of Lincoln to bypass Omaha. 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 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.

Major intersections

References