Driving I-80 to cross the state at Feb

[tcallocchia1]

Going to be driving from Chicago to Boulder....was checking out some posted speed limits and came across this site. Looking for any info/advice out there.

Anyone ever gone chicago > denver, or anywhere in Iowa to Denver. What is the approximate time between some of these destinations? Sounds like the posted speed limits are 70 and 75 in a lot of places. Is the best bet to stick to 5 over on cruise control to be on the safe side? Any information about time and cop enforcement would be greatly appreciated. Not worried about the "boredom" of the I80 across Nebraska, but we will probably be doing this all in one day, so we want to get some more accurate time estimates other than google maps. Thanks.

[tpabes]

I-80 speed limit is 75 mph in Nebraska. You can honestly probably get away with going 5 over, people always seem to be over 75 mph on the interstate, but Nebraska state patrol will pull people over so don't get too crazy. You will be getting off at the I-76 interchange, so you are going to be driving approx 350 miles from Omaha to I-76 interchange, so it should take approx 4.5 hours.

The best places to stop with the most variety of services are Omaha, Lincoln, York, Kearney, Lexington, North Platte and Ogalalla. Sometimes you can find much cheaper gas if you drive into town a little bit (especially true in Kearney). Other stops that don't have as much variety or you have to drive further to town include, Seward, Aurora, Grand Island/Hastings, Cozad and Gothenburg.

[mattpoulsen]

You should be able to cruise at 80 mph with not problem.

[Dave1215]

Just watch it between Omaha and Lincoln - the zones flip quite a bit between 65 and 75 due to construction zones.

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by tcallocchia1

Going to be driving from Chicago to Boulder....was checking out some posted speed limits and came across this site. Looking for any info/advice out there.

Anyone ever gone chicago > denver, or anywhere in Iowa to Denver. What is the approximate time between some of these destinations? Sounds like the posted speed limits are 70 and 75 in a lot of places. Is the best bet to stick to 5 over on cruise control to be on the safe side? Any information about time and cop enforcement would be greatly appreciated. Not worried about the "boredom" of the I80 across Nebraska, but we will probably be doing this all in one day, so we want to get some more accurate time estimates other than google maps. Thanks.

Chicago to Denver/Bouler is approx 18-20 hrs of driving time. Google Maps and Mapquest may tell you less, but as my daughter once said: "You can eat in the car. You can pee out the window. But you have to stop and buy gas." Sometimes, the gas buying expeditions take you quite a bit out of the way. They aren't all right at the ramp. This is allowing time for meal stops as we didn't eat in the car, nor did we pee out the window.