NORTH Iowa line: Missouri River (Veterans Memorial/South Omaha Bridge) (with IA/NE 92), Council Bluffs IA/Omaha NE, Pottawattamie County IA/Douglas County NE
Looking north from Nebraska
Photo by Neil Bratney
Although this bridge, the South Omaha Bridge, was built in 1935, the bridge did not carry US 275 until 1941 and IA 92 until 1960. Neil says, "On the west side of the bridge, NE 92/US 275 enter ethnic South Omaha on Missouri Ave. You can turn north immediately on 13th Street to get to I-80 (about 1.5 miles). NE 92 continues westward through Omaha and on to Wahoo."
Nebraska and Iowa have planned a new four-lane bridge just to the north of the current one, which will be torn down. There's work going on already on four-laning 92/275 on the Iowa side. Work on the new bridge is expected to start in late 2007 and be done by the end of the decade. See the NDOR page here.
Iowa into Nebraska
Facing west on 92/275, with a Nebraska seat belt sign
Photo by Neil Bratney
Nebraska into Iowa
Facing east on 92/275
The road we're on is Missouri Avenue; the intersecting road is 13th Street. The South Omaha Bridge was named the Veterans Memorial Bridge in 1985, though the name is used less often on the Iowa side.
Facing east
Photos by Neil Bratney
For more pictures, see the IA 92 page.
Old NORTH Iowa line (1939-41): Missouri River (Ak-Sar-Ben Bridge) (with US 6, US 30A, US 75, and IA/NE 92), Council Bluffs IA/Omaha NE, Pottawattamie County IA/Douglas County NE
Highways on the Ak-Sar-Ben (Douglas Street) and I-480 bridges
| 1926-late 1931 |     |
| 1931-34 |    
|
| 1934-39 |
 |
| 1939-41 |      |
| 1941-60 | |
| 1960-66 | |
| I-480 bridge opened Oct 21, 1966; Ak-Sar-Ben Bridge torn down 1968 | |
| 1966-69 |    |
| 1969-84 | |
| 1984-present | |
Aerial photo from ortho.gis.iastate.edu
The Ak-Sar-Ben/Douglas Street Bridge, originally built in 1888, was located very near the present I-480 bridge; a pier of the old bridge is still sitting in the river today (lower right). For some more information see this page (Omaha Public Library).
Old NORTH End (November 1931-1939): Main or Pearl Street at Broadway (US 6/US 30A/US 75), Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie County
See Dale Sanderson's page for a map of Council Bluffs and some photos from downtown. While that map (ca. 1932) shows 275 using Main, other maps and the Highway Commission minutes of February 5, 1936, indicate that 275 used Pearl Street instead of Main. Pearl is a weird street; it doesn't match the grid, and is only half a block west from Main.
Approximately a month after US 275 was signed in Iowa, US 32 was replaced by US 6, so the two numbers were barely contemporaries.
SOUTH Iowa line: 2 miles SE of Hamburg, Fremont County IA/Atchison County MO
Facing south on 275, but heading west on IA 2
This new Clearview sign was put up along the Sidney bypass. It's the only non-interstate sign in Iowa to reference destinations in three states. Notice the use of two-letter postal abbreviations instead of "Neb." and "Mo."
Facing south on 275
Facing north on 275
About a mile to the north, 275 meets the 1980-2003 route of IA 333, and goes a mile west into Hamburg. If Missouri ever wanted to drop the 275 designation since it parallels I-29, 275 could easily replace 333 and end in Iowa.
In 1980, the DOT proposed rerouting all of 275 north of IA 2 onto I-29 (and probably IA 92). Part of this happened in 2003 when the part of 275 close to I-29 north of Glenwood was put onto the interstate.
The south end of the route is 16 miles away, near Rock Port. Pictures of that end at its north end in Nebraska are here.
Pictures by Neil Bratney: First, 1/22/02; second, fourth, and fifth, summer 2002
Sixth picture by Jason Hancock: 4/1/07
Pictures by me: Third, seventh, and eighth, 6/12/06
Page created 12/11/06; last updated 4/15/07