Taking a Trip to the Past on Interstate 80

Motorists on the heavily traveled Interstate 80 no longer have to leave it to locate a roadside attraction: There’s a new museum right over the highway.

The $42-million museum in Kearney, Neb., called the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument, is a 390-foot-long steel arch that looks a bit like an old-fashioned covered bridge--albeit on a grand scale. Inside are exhibits on the westward migration of 19th century pioneers by wagon and rail, the history of the interstate highway system and the modern car culture. At a window 22 feet above the highway, visitors can aim a radar gun at passing cars and check their speeds.

“Most developers approach a project like this with the premise, ‘Build it and they will come,’ ” says marketing executive J. Greg Smith, who helped create the museum at the request of former Nebraska Gov. Frank B. Morrison. “My position was and is, ‘Build it because they are already here.’ ” About 13 million people drive by Kearney (population: 24,396) each year on the route, museum officials say.

Exhibit hours vary by season: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. May 1 through Labor Day, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. the rest of the year. Admission is $7.50 adults, $6 seniors and ages 3 to 12, free under 3. Telephone (877) 511-ARCH, Internet https://www.archway.org.