Where do you build it? How big should it be?

You want to find a location that has a relatively high population base to make it convenient for local racers to attend the Friday Night, or weekend bracket races. For Nebraska that means you would want to be close to the Omaha-Council Bluffs or Lincoln metropolitan areas. This also makes the facility more attractive to various racing associations for holding event in the area. The fans and racers have good access to local lodging and restaurants when the race track is within 5 miles of the city.

The track should be located on a paved highway to allow for good access in and out of the events. As consumers, we all expect convenience. Locating close to I-80 will help draw in the fans and racers for larger events. The State and Federal highway administration want any facility to be at 2 miles from the interstate to avoid traffic backing up the exits for large events. Good highway access also helps to minimize the impact to the neighboring areas of the metro area. The easy access keeps the disruption of traffic to as small an impact as possible.

You would want to find a location that finds a compromise with the surrounding area. The location would be one which impacts a relatively small number of people in a one mile radius. Look around the county and find those locations that are relatively low. Industrial areas may be feasible. Ag areas are definitely feasible. Most tracks built in the country in recent years have been built on agricultural land. An agricultural location also will tend to reduce the number of people impacted on neighboring properties.

The potential property must have a length of a mile to build a drag strip. You need ¼ mile for the track and ½ mile for the shutdown area. Other drag strips in the country hold large events such as national and divisional events with sites having 115 acres to 140 acres on the small side. The goal would be to have more than 140 acres for a drag strip facility.

Drag Strip Location Criteria:

1) Located near the Metro Lincoln area
2) Locate within 5 miles of the city
3) Locate on a paved road with good access to I-80.
4) Locate more than 2 miles from the interchange to I-80
5) Property must have a length of 1 mile for track construction
6) Property must have 140 acres or more.
7) Industrial and Agricultural areas are best locations
8) Location should evaluate the number of people in 1 mile radius and select an area with a relatively low number when compared to population density in the county.
9) The Property must be available for purchase to develop.

Why not build the track at Airpark?

The property at Air Park near the airport is owned by the Lincoln Airport Authority. The rent on the property would be about $2.5 million per year. That is equal to the cost to construct the track. If they were to raise the lease, you can’t take your race track with you.

The airport is measured on sound levels over a 24 hour period. They register sound in decibels for a 24 hour period and produce a measure called a Day-Night Level or DNL. Addition of a race track will increase that DNL for the airport.

The airport is in a great big bowl with a concrete bottom. The measures to mitigate sound travel at the airport is much less than a site that allows for building earthen berms along the track sides to limit sound travel. The houses on the hills around the area have a straight shot at the sound travel from the airport.

The traffic for large events can’t be handled at Air Park. That was shown by the 2006 Air Show. The track needs to have better highway access and not empty into an existing residential neighborhood such as Arnold Heights area.

One other problem, LAA has said, “no way”. The Air Park location is not possible.

Why not build the track at the old Arrow Airport / City garbage dump site?

Again, it is government owned property. You can’t take the track with you when they raise the rent.

If you could buy it, you would never want to buy property that is located over a garbage dump. You could become liable for any future environmental problems that arise from the garbage buried there.

A landfill is also poor for construction of a drag strip. The track surface needs to be on ground that won’t settle. The garbage dump would be too unstable for the long term operation of a safe, flat and smooth racing surface.

The old Arrow Airport on N. 48th street is not possible.

Why not build it in the West O street area?

That may be a possibility, but if you look at population density, West O has a much higher number of people in the area than the north Highway 77 area. There are many new houses built west of the airport, and south of West O along the West A street neighborhoods. The parcels of land available that have the required size also appear limited.

Another consideration is the request from the highway department that the facility be a couple of miles from the Interstate exchange. This is so that traffic for large events won’t back up onto the interstate. The potential sites at that exit are closer than 2 miles to I-80.
The roads off NW 48th Street are all 2 lanes, and won’t handle the traffic that large events would generate when you add in the local traffic to the housing areas west of the airport. The property between Highway 6 and I-80 limits the development related to the track for the future.

The next I-80 exit is 8 miles further west of Lincoln at the NW 154th street Pleasant Dale exit. It has less local traffic so the 2-lane highway may not be as much of a limitation. This site has no prospects for additional development which might benefit Lincoln. It is farther from town and would not attract the investment in any new commercial or industrial enterprises in that area.

The west side is on the opposite side of Lincoln from Omaha-Council Bluffs population and would add to the travel distance for those spectators and racers. There are other areas that would be more attractive to the hotels, a truck stop and retail business that could grow along with the race track.

The possibilities in the West O street area may be there, but appear to be very limited at this time.

Why not on Highway 77 at Branched Oak Road?

It has good highway access by being right on Highway 77. It has good access to the Interstate but isn’t too close. They don’t want a big entertainment facility right off an exit so that traffic won’t backup on to the interstate. This location is more than the 2 miles the highway department prefers.

It is close to Lincoln. This serves the racers and fans that will need hotels and restaurants while they are in Lincoln. They only have to travel a few miles to get to 27th Street.

The interchange at 56th and I-80 is getting reworked in the next couple years. There is development starting on the north side of the Interstate. There will be hotels and a truck stop there in the near future. The race track can help encourage that kind of development by bringing in customers.

The site has plenty of land to build a national quality facility. And it is available. No “what ifs”. No guesses.

It is the right size, in the right location, is available, and it can be started right away. Racing could start in about 2 years.