Transportation in Omaha, Nebraska, includes most major modes, such as pedestrian, bicycle, automobile, bus, train and airplane. While early transportation consisted of ferries, stagecoaches, steamboats, street railroads, and railroads, the city's transportation systems have evolved to include the Interstate Highway System, parklike boulevards and a variety of bicycle and pedestrian trails. The historic head of several important emigrant trails and the First transcontinental railroad, its center as a national transportation hub earned Omaha the nickname "Gate City of the West" as early as the 1860s.Mullens, P.A. (1901) Biographical Sketches of Edward Creighton and John A. Creighton. Creighton University. p 24.
During a tumultuous pioneer period characterized by its centrality in proximity to the Western United States, transportation in Omaha demanded the construction of massive warehouses where frontier settlers could stock up and communities west of Omaha got food and supplies to build themselves with. Riverboats and stagecoaches jammed the riverside city with a variety of newcomers, prospectors and shady characters. Early Omaha also landed the Union Pacific Railroad headquarters, leading to its important place in national railroad lore.
After quickly growing into a city, Omaha failed to pave its streets accordingly. A chaotic transportation system was highlighted by several miles of successful horsecar tracks; however, the city only ever had four miles (6 km) of cable car service. Several early suburbs were built on reliance of service from these lines, including Dundee, Benson and Kountze Place. In the early 1880s an extensive boulevard system was built to create a park-like atmosphere for drivers throughout the city. The Trans-Mississippi Exposition in 1889 led to the construction of many new transportation features, particularly the magnificent Burlington Station.
In the 1930s the city's transportation system was marred by violent protests. Transit workers wanted to unionize, and with the main company's management against any effort to change Omaha's reputation as a non-unionized city. After the introduction of buses in the early 1950s, streetcars were closed down, and in the last years of the decade the city began construction on its components in the Interstate Highway System.
Today Omaha's transportation system is growing with the city, and trails for bicycles and pedestrians, as well as public transport, highways and parkways, and other innovations are being developed. The city has a section of the Lincoln Highway listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and there are more than of Interstate and freeway lanes, more than any other area in the state of Nebraska.O'Connor, M. (2007) "Smoother commute is down the road", Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved 9/28/07.
Pioneer period
Omaha was not projected to become a great city or bigger than its neighbor across the Missouri River, Council Bluffs, Iowa. In 1856 a land speculator reported to his East Coast concerns that, "C. Bluffs is steadily growing down towards the river and someday it will be one great city on both sides the river with Rail Road & foot & Carriage Bridges connecting the two – and this is now the hope and talk of the Bluffers." – J. Barker, 1856."Best of the Barker Letters." Douglas County Historical Society. Retrieved 9/26/07.
In August 1859 Abraham Lincoln visited land he had invested in Council Bluffs, and while there did not consider it worth the time to cross the river to the village of Omaha.Larsen and Cottrell. (1997) p 35.
Water traffic
In 1804, fifty years before the city of Omaha was founded, the Lewis and Clark Expedition first arrived via the Missouri River. The 1806 Fort Lisa and 1820 Cabanne's Trading Post were important fur trading outposts located in proximity to the river, along with earlier Fontenelle's Post in Bellevue. The Engineer Cantonment was built by Captain Stephen Watts Kearny's Yellowstone Expedition in 1819. The Expedition's craft, the Western Engineer, was the first steamboat to successfully venture up the Missouri River to the Omaha-Council Bluffs area."184 Years of Lost American History is Emerging from Local Missouri River Soil". OmahaRiverFront.com. Retrieved 9/25/07.
The Missouri was the reason Omaha was founded, and continued to be important to the city's growth for many years. In 1853 William D. Brown had the first vision for the city, leading him to found the Lone Tree Ferry crossing the Missouri River from Council Bluffs, Iowa. Later the Council Bluffs and Nebraska Ferry Company hired Alfred D. Jones to plat Omaha City, which was among the first settlements in the Nebraska Territory. Along with the Lone Tree Ferry Landing in Downtown Omaha, other ferries were established in the Omaha area at Florence, Saratoga and Bellevue. Large steamboats would carry provisions up the Missouri from St. Louis, stocking the warehouses in Jobbers Canyon and loading the trains of the Union Pacific and at the Omaha Quartermaster Depot, which in turn supplied the U.S. Army's Department of the Platte.
The Banner State was the first steamboat to land materials for building the city in early 1854, before the city was formally founded."History of Captain William Massey" Steamboats.org. Retrieved 9/25/07. Until 1879 Captain Joseph La Barge was the principal figure among the Missouri steamboat captains in the early years of the city. According to J. Sterling Morton, the golden era for steamboating on the Missouri was from 1855 to 1860, just before the advent of the railroads.Morton, J. and Watkins, A. (1918) "Old Trading Post – Bellevue in 1856," History of Nebraska from the Earliest Explorations of the Trans-Mississippi Region. Lincoln, NE: Western Publishing and Engraving Company. p. 86. Retrieved 7/15/07. In 1857, 174 steamboats carrying 13,000 tons of freight tied up at Omaha wharves. When Omaha became the outfitting center for Colorado gold seekers headed for Pikes Peak in 1859, 268 steamboats arrived at Omaha between March and November."Omaha Timeline" Omaha Public Library. Retrieved 9/25/07.
With railroads becoming the dominant form of long-range shipping and passenger travel in the early 1870s, riverboats like those in Omaha became obsolete. However, as late at 1949 the steamship Avalon was letting passengers in Omaha, before becoming one of the famous St. Louis steamboats in the 1960s."History – Belle of Louisville." Retrieved 9/25/07."Chapter XVII: Romance of Omaha." Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved 9/25/07.
Railroads
In 1863, ground was broken near Miller's Landing on the Missouri River for the First transcontinental railroad. Along with local financier Edward Creighton, George Francis Train was the promoter who was mostly responsible for the city landing the railroad. He was made rich from its convenient placement near land that he owned (near Deer Park.Bristow, D.L. (2002) A dirty, wicked town: Tales of 19th century Omaha. Caxton Press. p 66. The Union Pacific Railroad has been headquartered in Omaha since its inception in 1867. In 1872, Union Pacific opened the first [railroad] bridge across the Missouri to Omaha.Larsen, L.H. and Cottrell, B.J. (1997) The Gate City: A history of Omaha. University of Nebraska Press. p 65.
Trails In the 1860s and 1870s, the city became a major outfitting center for the major trails that went across Nebraska, including the Oregon, California and Mormon Trails. Jobbers Canyon was built in Downtown Omaha for the purpose of outfitting these migrants. Stagecoach lines had arrived by 1858, including the Local Stage Coach Company in 1857, and the Western Stage Company which began its easterly and westerly routes in Omaha. The Pony Express and Wells Fargo lines maintained offices in the city.
Streets
Omaha had terrible streets through the late 1880s, which caused many residents to believe the city was not progressing appropriately. This lack of responsiveness by the city government was caused by property owners throughout the city who did not want to pay for improvements. On rainy days stagecoaches would sink up to their hubcaps, and residents wore knee-high boots to wade through the mud, and at times rivers ran through the streets.Larsen and Cottrell. (1997) p 101.
Public transportation In 1867 Ezra Millard, Andrew J. Hanscom, and Augustus Kountze formed the Omaha Horse Railway Company to provide horsecar service in the city. By the late 1870s the line had five miles (8 km) of track, 10 cars, 70 horses, 20 employees and 495,000 passengers annually.Larsen and Cottrell. (1997) p 106. The Omaha Cable Tramway Company was the city's only cable car, and started in 1884 and ended in 1895 after consolidating with the Horse Railway as the Omaha Street Railway Company. In 1896 the new company disbanded as competitors moved in."Omaha Timeline." Douglas County Historical Society. Retrieved 9/23/07. An electric car was built by Eurastus Benson between Omaha and Benson specifically to promote that suburbs development during this time.
1880s – 1950
Streets
In 1880 only a quarter-mile of Omaha's estimated of streets were paved. In 1883 Andrew Rosewater, brother of newspaper owner Edward Rosewater, became city engineer and began an ambitious project to modernize city streets. By 1886 the city had of paved streets, including asphaltum, Colorado sandstone, Sioux Falls granite and wooden blocks.
In 1889 Horace W.S. Cleveland proposed that the city of Omaha develop a series of "broad ornamental avenues, known as boulevards or parkways" designed "with a tasteful arrangement of trees and shrubbery at the sides and in the center", similar to the comprehensive plans of European cities in the mid-19th century. His plan was accepted by the city's Parks Commission, resulting in the construction of Omaha's Prettiest Mile Boulevard in 1892, and dozens of other boulevards in the through to the present."Omaha's Suburban Park Plan". City of Omaha. p 63. Retrieved 9/15/07. Today, Fontenelle and Lincoln boulevards are among the many remnants of the early plan; Sorenson Parkway is a modern version of the historical plan. Saddle Creek Boulevard, currently known as Saddle Creek Road, which was originally the westernmost boulevard in the system., National Park Service. Retrieved 10/16/07.
Bridges
While the Union Pacific Missouri River Bridge was the first railroad bridge across the river, the Douglas Street Bridge opened in 1888 as the first road bridge. The East Omaha Bridge was originally opened in 1893, and rebuilt a decade later in 1903. The Mormon Bridge was first attempted to be built across the river in 1932, and failed; it was finally successfully constructed in 1952. The South Omaha Bridge opened in 1936. The Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben operated the Douglas Street Bridge as a toll bridge from 1938 to 1947. The bridge was removed in 1968. Traffic was carried by a new girder bridge built in 1966 for I-480.Douglas Street Bridge. Omaha Public Library. Retrieved 9/24/07. The Saddle Creek Underpass, over which is the Dodge Street Overpass, was completed in 1934 by the Works Progress Administration. Over of dirt were excavated to lower Saddle Creek Road sufficiently to pass under the overpass, which is still in use today. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992, Nebraska State Historical Society. Retrieved 10/16/07. it is part of the Bridges in Nebraska Multiple Property Submission as well.
Highways
In 1889 Otto Baysdorfer built Omaha's first auto, an electric car. The "Ottomobile" was the first of nearly a dozen car manufacturers eventually started in Omaha. The Ottomobile weighed 265 pounds, had two cylinders, and could achieve a speed of 15 miles per hour."Omaha Timeline," Douglas County Historical Society. Retrieved 9/23/07. An "Auto Row" developed along Farnam Street and featured dealers, garages, and parts stores.