I'm seeking advice from anyone who has recently driven I-80 through Iowa and Nebraska through the numerous road construction delays posted on AAA routing maps. Were the delays so long that you'd recommend driving route 36 instead?
Was the traffic heavy AWAY from the city centers?
I-80 Road Construction Delays
Recent Activity
View all United States activity »
- 1 San Francisco - one semi-splurge restaurant?
- 2 Albuquerque to Denver
- 3 Seattle restaurant near Pikes Market
- 4 San Fran, Napa, Palo Alto, Carmel advice
- 5 WHERE TO STAY FOR PROPOSAL WEEKEND IN FREDRICKSBURG
- 6 Omni Hotel, San Francisco - Did I make a good choice
- 7 Zion vs Bryce - How many days each?
- 8 Using public transit in San Diego
- 9 What to do with extra day in Virginia?
- 10 Williamsburg VA
- 11 Finally, seeing the Outer Banks
- 12
A Visit to Charleston
- 13
Restos in Boca Raton
- 14
Rocks and Roads in Utah
- 15 Just saw the Book of Mormon in Chicago ! Can we talk about it
- 16 Yosemite Falls Lodge in the park or Cedar Lodge w/ budget constraints
- 17 What to see/do from north Texas area to SD (Mt. Rushmore area)
- 18 Southern Utah and GC Trip Cont.- Itinerary Help
- 19 Memorial day weekend drivable getaway from Jersey City, NJ
- 20 NYC Newbie Needs Advice Re JFK Transportation
- 21
Boston, my 2 hour food shopping spree to satiate my man's needs
- 22 Question about Northeast Wisconsin along the lake
- 23 Help with NYC transit
- 24 How far ahead to book Alcatraz?
- 25 Boston Area College Tour


Even with construction I would still take I-80 over any other road if you want to come through Iowa. The only Route 36 that I see is quite a bit south of I-80 (2-3 hours south) and in Missouri.
It would just depend on where you're coming from and going to. I wouldn't drive 2+ hours north and then 2+ hours south to take I-80 over Rt 36 if I was near 36, but I'd choose 80 over any highway if I was even remotely in the area.
Depending on coming from where and going to where, there is always I70 through Kansas.
I don't know about Iowa, but in Nebraska just west of Lincoln there are major slowdowns (as in creeping and sometimes just stopped traffic). I recommend you take the Highway 6 exit on the west side of Lincoln (I think it's the O Street exit). It runs about a 1/2 to 3/4 mile south of I-80 in a parallel manner to Milford, NE. If you get back on I-80 at Milford, you will go around almost all the construction and are back to 75 mph after a few miles. My son lives in Lincoln, and I drove this route home after visiting him the weekend of July 14. It worked like a charm. There wasn't a lot of traffic on Hwy 6, and it's a lot prettier than I-80! You do have to go through a couple of towns and the speed limit slows down, but it's definitely better than sitting for two hours on I-80 like my son did the first part of June.
You can take