Task Force Plan Provides Safety, Better Viewing.

Safer and better areas for viewing sandhill cranes in the spring have been developed as Phase I of the Central Platte Historic, Scenic & Trails Project. The multi-year project will promote awareness of the historic importance of the Central Platte Valley as a transportation corridor dating from the 1800s as well as an important part of the migratory path of waterfowl.

Safety also is a primary purpose of the project, since the migration of sandhill cranes, ducks and geese each year attract thousands of tourists and local people to the river and feeding areas.

A top priority was given to getting people off roads and bridges during the crane viewing season for their safety and for the safety of those using the roads and bridges. Viewing decks were constructed at the Gibbon and Alda bridges to give the crane watchers a better and safer opportunity to see the cranes. All-weather parking areas were built near the decks to reduce dangerous traffic congestion.

Three roadside turnout areas between Doniphan and Shelton on the road along the south side of the Platte are also being developed in Phase I.

A portion of the cost is being paid under the federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA). The remaining cost was contributed by Central Platte NRD and participating counties (Hall and Buffalo). The Audubon Society provided land for a roadside turnout near Shelton.

The project is part of a comprehensive plan developed by a task force of various governmental and private agency representatives. Central Platte NRD brought the various interests together to discuss the safety issues, and the task force looked at the broad scope of needs, including ways to enhance tourism and recreation opportunities.

As a result, the task force’s comprehensive plan includes parking areas, access to the river for canoeists, scenic roads, bridges and turnouts, historic trail designations and proposed recreational trails. The task force will continue to study the needs and to seek funding to implement additional phases.

Historic features will highlight the Platte River routes taken in the early 1800s by explorers such as Stephen H. Long and John Charles Fremont and by fur traders who passed back and forth on and along the Platte River. These routes became the major transcontinental trails of the covered wagon migration and became known as "The Great Platte River Road." The Union Pacific Railroad and Interstate 80 use the Platte corridor today as major links between the East and West coasts.

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