NW LNK Improvement Sketches 3: Purple Heart Hwy West and an alternative to I-80
I was recently in a situation where I was not allowed access to a computer, phone, books, etc. for several hours…but I had a couple pens and some handouts with blank backs! So for the next few weeks I will post these sketches. They are just some thoughts I’ve had about how I would improve roads in NW Lincoln. I did draw these 100% from memory; I did not alter anything afterward, and so once I look at satellite pics, that will probably nix some of my ideas. (Obviously not to scale for the same reasons.)
The top sketch shows a continuation of the Purple Heart Hwy conversion to freeway that I started previously. There actually is a road that has been started that travels north from NW 38th St and Airport Rd, but the project seems to have been abandoned as far as I can tell. This finishes it and makes an interchange with Purple Heart Hwy, because making a left off of NW 31st St can get really interesting some days! I also show the NW 48th St project being completed (upgrade to four lanes) and connecting W Fletcher Ave to North Park Rd and Airport Rd so that one doesn’t have to go all the way up to Wildrose Ln and back down to get from Air Park to the Highlands. I also eliminate S55C from the highway roster, as it is now entirely within LNK city limits.
One of my peeves of living in the Highlands is that there is not a good way to get down to US 6 to head west (also known as my non-interstate way to work) without either going all the way around the airport or backtracking to N 1st St to drop down to Sun Valley Blvd if you don’t want to take the interstate. So I proposed a surface road that would connect airport-area roads and NW 27th St along the north side of I-80. Of all of these sketches, this one is probably the least viable, because a) my working memory is slightly less here, b) protected salt marshes, and c) potentially national security issues with the National Guard right there (but at least I proposed that as a possible name?).
That’s it for these sketches! If you liked them, let me know and maybe there will be similar content in the future!
