Rerouting of the Lincoln Highway

The Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental highway, was completed in 1915. As the number of automobiles on the highway increased, concerns about highway safety grew along with it. In 1922 the State of Nebraska and the Union Pacific Railroad agreed to reduce the number of times the highway crossed the railroad tracks. Renamed U.S. Highway 30, the Lincoln Highway would now enter eastern Hall County on the south side of the tracks, cross over the tracks on an overpass at Grand Island, and then continue westward on the north side of the tracks.

Prior to this realignment, the Lincoln Highway entered Wood River from the north on 130th Road and passed through town on 9th Street before turning south at 140th Road and crossing the railroad tracks. The plan drafted by the State called for the highway to pass through Wood River on 11th Street, but local business leaders objected. Instead, the new highway ran one block south of 9th Street parallel to the Union Pacific tracks.