All roadways from interstate highway to an unimproved trail road are named with a field called Route ID. The Route IDs for each roadway follow specific criteria.
Route IDs are divided into four categories. Type I consists of state highways with I, US, or N prefixes. Type II includes state spurs, state connecting links, and state recreation roads. Type III includes all municipal streets and county roads. Type IV includes all roadway ramps.
Type I: Interstates and Highways
Roads on the state highway and interstate system have a 3-digit or 4-digit Route ID that matches the highway or interstate number. Acceptable suffixes for Type I are A for Alternate Route or R for Reverse. For example, I-80 has a Route ID of 080. The Route ID for N-25A is 025A. I-680 has a Route ID of 680.
Type II: Links, Spurs, and State Recreation Roads
Links, spurs, and state recreation roads have a 4-digit or 5-digit Route ID. Highway links and spurs Route IDs have 4 digits. State recreation road Route IDs have 4 or 5 digits.
A spur is a state highway which branches from a state highway to a municipality or state park not on already on a highway. The principal characteristic is that only one end of the highway connects with another state highway. A connecting link is a state highway which extends between and connects with two other state highways. Normally, a connecting link is short in length. A recreation road is a county road which connects a state recreation area to a state highway, and/or which has been developed and improved with monies from the State Recreation Road Fund in accordance with Section 39-1390, Nebraska Statutes.
The Route ID starts with L for links, S for spurs, or R for recreation roads. The 2nd and 3rd characters are the county number. The 4th character is a letter that differentiates that specific link, spur, or recreation road in that county. Recreation roads may have a 5th character to further differentiate the section of recreation road. For example, L01E is a linking highway in Adams County. The prefix of L denotes a link. The county number for Adams County is 01. The E differentiates this linking highway from other links in Adams County.
Route IDs R89B and R89BC are examples of state recreation roads showing a county number designation followed by a letter designation for each recreational area within a county. For Route ID R89BC, the B denotes the main road leading to a specific area, and the C indicates interior roads within a specific recreational area.
Type III: Municipal Streets and County Roads
Municipal streets and county roads may have a 4-digit or 6-digit Route ID. Major municipal streets and county roads typically have a 4-digit Route ID that consists of all numbers. Smaller municipal streets and county roads typically have a 6-digit Route ID. The 6-digit municipal street Route ID starts with a 2-digit city code. Similarly, the 6-digit county road Route ID starts with a 2-digit county number. The remaining four digits are a local road name code that may be based on the street’s name. County roads with a P in any position after the county number, such as 01P129, indicate a partial county road that is located between two section lines. Other examples would be Route ID YUWLTS for Walnut Street in Yutan and the Route ID 01008 for 70th Street in Adams County.
Type IV: Ramps
Ramps are roadways that connect two grade separated roadways. Ramps have a 6-digit Route ID. The Route ID starts with a 4-digit Route ID of the dominate highway connected to the ramp. The 5th digit is the ramp type. The 6th digit is letter or number that designates that specific ramp. For example, 0080LD is the Route ID for a loop ramp for I-80.
The ramp types are:
C – Collector‐Distributor
F – Free Right
L – Loop
R – Ramp
W – Weigh Station
Z – Rest Area