Carter Lake, IA is one of the very few parts of Iowa that lies west of the Missouri River. This is because of a kinky bend of the river that eliminated itself through its meanderings after the Iowa/Nebraska state line was set.
Carter Lake lies conveniently on the shortest, most direct route between Downtown Omaha, NE (just off the map to the southwest) and the terminal of the regional airport (Eppley Airfield, at the upper right of the map). Abbott Drive, the direct link between those two points, passes through Carter Lake on its route and that portion of the road in Iowa is an Iowa state highway, IA 165. Although this little discontinuous Iowa state highway has no other connections to the outside world except via Abbott Drive in Omaha, it is fully marked by IaDOT, complete with all of the usual 'state line' signage used by the State of Iowa. There is no similar signage on the Nebraska side of the state lines. Abbott Drive in Nebraska is only an Omaha city street, not a Nebraska state highway. (This has to confuse the daylights out of unsuspecting out-of-towners as they go from the airport to downtown Omaha.) BTW, that is I-29 across the river in Council Bluffs, IA.
North of the Eppley Airfield terminal, Abbott Drive circles westward around Carter Lake connecting with US 75, which continues south to downtown Omaha as an I-compatible freeway, the routing averaging just over 1500 m from Carter Lake. This freeway connects with I-480 at the northwest corner of downtown Omaha in an interchange that includes 'ghost ramps' to a never built freeway that was proposed to go to the city's west side. These ramps currently feed into the local side streets of a near northwest side residential neighborhood.
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Just follow this sign to make your OWN great signs!!!! |
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This page © Michael G. Koerner |
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