Interstate 480 (Iowa–Nebraska)

Interstate 480
Gerald R. Ford Expressway
Omaha regional map with I-480 highlighted in red.
Route information
Auxiliary route of I‑80
Maintained by NDOR and Iowa DOT
Length:	4.90 mi (7.89 km) Nebraska: 4.15 miles (6.68 km) Iowa: 0.721 miles (1.160 km)
Existed:	November 21, 1966 – present
Major junctions
CCW end:	I-80 / US 75 in Omaha, Neb.
	US 75 in Omaha US 6 in Omaha
CW end:	I‑29 / US 6 in Council Bluffs, Iowa
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business ← US 385 NE I-680 → ← Iowa 415 IA I‑680 →

Interstate 480 (I-480) is a 4.90-mile-long (7.89 km) auxiliary Interstate Highway that connects Interstate 80 in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, with Interstate 29 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The portion of I-480 in Nebraska has been named the Gerald R. Ford Expressway, named in honor of the former President, who was a native of Omaha. For most of its length, I-480 is overlapped by a U.S. Highway; for 2 miles (3.2 km) with U.S. Route 75 and for 1 mile (1.6 km) with U.S. Route 6. Interstate 480 includes the Grenville Dodge Memorial Bridge over the Missouri River.

Route description

I-480/U.S. Route 75 sign in Omaha

Interstate 480 begins at an interchange with Interstate 80 to the east and west and with U.S. Route 75, known as the Kennedy Freeway, to the south. Going north, I-480 passes the Hanscom Park neighborhood to the west and the Vinton Street Commercial Historic District to the east. At exit 1A, I-480 intersects Martha Street, which before January 1, 2003, was the eastern end of Nebraska Highway 38. North of Martha Street, I-480 passes the Gerald R. Ford Birthsite and Gardens. At the Leavenworth Street exit, the highway divides the Leavenworth neighborhood from the Old Market neighborhood. Shortly after the Leavenworth Street exit is the Harney Street exit, which provides access to U.S. Route 6 from eastbound I-480. before the North Freeway interchange, I-480 passes beneath Dodge and Douglas Streets, which are the westbound and eastbound lanes of U.S. 6, respectively.

An aerial view of Downtown Omaha with I-480 skirting the northern edge

Just to the southwest of the Creighton University campus is the North Freeway interchange, where US 75 leaves eastbound I-480 and joins westbound. The North Freeway was originally planned to be an Interstate Highway, "I-580", connecting northern Omaha to downtown, but this project was canceled with the interchange in midst of construction. A number of so-called ghost ramps can be found, but these are being eliminated during the reconstruction of this interchange. Here, I-480 turns to the east towards Council Bluffs, Iowa. I-480 passes between the NoDo and Downtown Omaha neighborhoods. Farther east, it dips to the southeast near CenturyLink Center Omaha, part of the "NoDo" neighborhood. Immediately before crossing the Missouri River, U.S. Route 6 joins I-480 to cross into Iowa. This bridge over the Missouri River was constructed in 1965 - 66 to replace the old Ak-Sar-Ben Bridge which had been the first highway bridge across the river in this area.

Upon entering Council Bluffs, I-480 meets up with Interstate 29 just from the Missouri River. On the other side of this interchange, I-480 ends where U.S. 6 traffic encounters signal-controlled intersections.

History

The I-480 bridge over the Missouri River between Council Bluffs, Iowa and Downtown Omaha, Nebraska.

In the late 1950s the construction of what was then referred to as Route 3 was highly controversial. It conveniently crossed through the western and northern edges of Downtown Omaha, two areas city leaders had considered "blighted" since the 1930s. The heavily Catholic, ethnic European neighborhoods the route went through rallied against the demolition of their homes, and the city's parks advocates provided resistance as well. Eventually the Interstate planners won out, and the city's historic Jefferson Square was demolished, as well as dozens of homes along the route.

In 1999, a bill was introduced in the United States House of Representatives that would have extended I-480 south along U.S. Highway 75 in southern Omaha and in Bellevue, Nebraska, then east through Plattsmouth to connect with Interstate 29 near Glenwood, Iowa, increasing the length of Interstate 480 to 19 miles (31 km). However, this bill was tabled in the committee.

In 2004, the Nebraska Department of Roads began a project to reconstruct the I-480 / US 75 interchange. Work took place in three phases spread out over the course of six years. The final phase of the $52-million ($54.7 million in 2024) project was funded with $13 million ($13.7 million in 2024) in American Recovery & Reinvestment Act stimulus money. The project was completed in May 2011 just in time for the College World Series.

Exit list

State	County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Nebraska	Douglas	Omaha	0.00	0.00	452C	US 75 south (Kennedy Freeway) / I-80 – Offutt AFB, Lincoln, Des Moines	Counterclockwise terminus; south end of US 75 overlap; exit 452C is for I-80 westbound; exit number based on I-80 mileage; I-80 exit 452; continues south as US 75 (Kennedy Freeway)
			0.89	1.43	1A	Martha Street	Former N-38
			1.81	2.91	1B	Leavenworth Street	Northbound exit and southbound entrance only
			1.89	3.04	2A	To US 6 (Dodge Street) / Harney Street	No southbound exit
			2.25	3.62	2B	30th Street / Dodge Street	No northbound exit
			2.43	3.91	2C	US 75 north (North Freeway) – Creighton University, Event Center-Ballpark, Eppley Airfield	North end of US 75 overlap
			3.12	5.02	2D	20th Street – Auditorium / Capitol Avenue	Eastbound exit only
						17th Street / Chicago Street	Westbound entrance only
			3.45	5.55	3	14th Street – Event Center-Ballpark, Old Market District, Creighton University	No westbound entrance; signed as exit 3A eastbound
						13th Street	Westbound entrance only
			4.00	6.44	4	US 6 west (Dodge Street) – Event Center-Ballpark, Eppley Airfield	One-way street; west end of US 6 overlap; westbound exit only
						US 6 (Douglas Street)	One-way street; west end of US 6 overlap; eastbound entrance only
Missouri River			4.15 0.000	6.68 0.000	Grenville Dodge Memorial Bridge
Iowa	Pottawattamie	Council Bluffs	0.274	0.441	0	Riverfront	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance only
			0.721	1.160	—	I‑29 to I‑80 / US 6 east (Broadway) – Sioux City, Kansas City, Council Bluffs	Clockwise terminus; east end of US 6 overlap; continues east as US 6
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access