I am traveling to the Omaha Airport from Sioux Falls, SD on Friday, July 1st. What would be the best route to take?
I appreciate the help!
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I am traveling to the Omaha Airport from Sioux Falls, SD on Friday, July 1st. What would be the best route to take?
I appreciate the help!
It appears that the I-29 closures now start just south of I-680 making travel from SD into Omaha rather difficult.
Nebraska's DOT is also recommending that people avoid US-75 due to both construction and flooding.
From how I read the closures here are your options:
The Omaha Airport is recommending you take I-29 to US-30 (Missouri Valley, IA) and then NE-133 into Omaha.
I think your best bet, however, might be to stay as far away from the River as you can, and take US-77 south from Sioux City to US-275 at Fremont to US-6 into Omaha. The biggest downside is that that brings you into the west side of Omaha, and you'll have to get across town to get to the airport.
The third option, which would be about 20 miles longer than the others, would be to head East on I-680 (towards Des Moines) until you reach I-80, and then double back on I-80 West back into Omaha.
An update: While the US-30 bridge remains open right now, it looks like it will be the next road to close. Iowa DOT says a levee has broken in the area, and water is rising quickly which could force the closure of US-30 at any time.
I'd say US-77 looks to be your best bet.
I-29 is becoming not an option around Sioux City too, there's already some ramps closed. Best thing to do is just stay away from the river, period.
I'd recommend you get off I-29 at SD-46 and take that west to US-81. Take that south to Norfolk NE then take US-275 to Omaha. Allow 6 hours for the trip, sorry about that.
There is one off ramp closure in Sioux City, but that doesn't impact the bridge crossings via US-77 or I-129 (although construction is causing a minor detour on I-129).
IDOT isn't expecting Flooding to cause major road problems around Sioux City, so detouring all the way over to Yankton, or even Vermillion to cross the river, seems like a pretty extreme and unnecessary step at this time.
Certainly, you will have to continue to keep an eye on things, and there are more problems farther north, as a new section of Northbound I-29 is now closed north of Missouri Valley.
IDOT does now have a call center for flood routing advice that's open from 7am to 9pm: 866-452-8510. Make sure to give them a call before you go.
Greetings - I'm leaving St Louis for Omaha tomorrow..... is this the most viable route? Any updates? Many thanksQuote:
Originally Posted by glc
Welcome to the RTA Forum!
Simply put, there will be no easy/simple way to make this trip. With the I-29 closure, every option is going to be adding a significant number of miles and/or involve some significant stretches of travel along 2 lane roads.
Sticking to freeways your best bet will be the posted detour, which takes you on I-35 all the way from KC to Des Moines before heading back to Omaha. That's a 550 mile trip which adds well over 100 miles to the typical route.
Another option you might consider would be to take US-61 and MO/IA-27 to Iowa City and go across I-80 from there, which is about 50 miles shorter, but involves a good chunk of 2 lane roads.
Otherwise, you're looking at detouring off where I-29 closes at St. Joe. From there you could either take US-71 North to I-80 or you could head west on US-36 and later turn north (keeping in mind that US-75 is not recommended either). The problem with any of these options is that there are a lot of extra people using these routes that simply aren't designed for Interstate levels of traffic, leading to the potential for some major traffic delays.
In my opinion, yes. It only adds about 35 miles to the trip, and US-71/IA-92 are good roads.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad
Im trying to get from Central Tx to East Grand Forks. We've always gone up I29 once leaving I35 in Kansas. Now it seems we may have to travel up 81? Blech, it's slow going that way, but I guess with all the other problems with the flooding, it is going to have to be the only way up.
Ive tried to get onto the sites that explain detours, other routes etc, but it's SO confusing!
Your best bet is get on I-135 in Wichita and take that to Salina, then US-81 to I-90 back to I-29.