City officials give update on multimillion-dollar Lincoln on the Move project

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — City officials say Lincoln roads are improving thanks to the Lincoln on the Move initiative. 

The six-year, $96 million program — funded by a quarter-cent sales tax — began in 2019 and has focused on improving existing roads across Lincoln.

So far, dozens of projects have been completed.

“Streets are essential to growing economic opportunity, to enhancing public safety and supporting our high quality of life here in Lincoln,” Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird said.

But roadwork can be controversial.

The closure of 48th Street this year left a number of local businesses upset over the decrease in customers.

The city replaced a water main “in coordination with” the Lincoln on the Move project there, according to the Lincoln Transportation and Utilities Department.

The water main project was completed in November, and the city postponed the rest of the street improvements to make businesses more accessible during the holidays.

Traffic is open now, and the city said it will keep at least one lane open in each direction when work resumes in the spring.

SEE ALSO: Lincoln businesses are ‘not going to give up’ as 48th street project is put on pause

City officials said even though they know roadwork projects can be hard for some businesses, they work with them the best they can. 

“We do appreciate everybody’s patience as we work through them because we know it is an inconvenience,” LTU Director Liz Elliott said.

Elliott said officials try to give businesses and residents information about what to expect from every project.

According to the city’s Lincoln on the Move map, several more projects will begin in the spring. 

That includes more work on R Street from 48th to Cotner Boulevard.  

Also, expect an increase in construction in northwest Lincoln next spring. That includes a stretch on West Highland Boulevard and West Fletcher Avenue and then on Northwest 12th from West Adams Street to West Highland.