Lancaster County working to protect drivers through ‘Safe Roads for All’ program

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – From rural highways to busy intersections, Lancaster County is taking a closer look at what’s causing crashes, and how to stop them.

“What we’re looking at is intersection improvements, widening out the pavement and increasing sight distances in some of the areas,” said Pam Dingman, Lancaster County Engineer. “Really focusing on how do we make that corridor more safe for our citizens.”

The Lancaster County Board of Commissioners approved the $320,000 plan on Tuesday.

80% of the funding will come from the federal government, with the other 20% coming from tax dollars.

Saltillo Road, South 68th and 148 streets are the top three roads taking priority right now.

“We did a study a few years ago of the safety of our roads, and we discovered a lot of things about drivers in Lancaster County,” Dingman said. “We discovered that we have some significant problems with speed in Lancaster County on these roads. They are 55 mile-per-hour roads.”

In a map acquired by Channel 8, you can see where most of the crashes happen in the county:

Dingman said a few factors contribute to the seriousness of crashes.

And she said the main message for drivers during these projects is that it’s a community effort to make sure everyone gets to their destination safely.

“We’re hoping with the Safe Roads for All program to study and figure out where we can best implement better processes,” she said. “Whether that be different safety components to the road or education components to help our community arrive alive.”