City of Lincoln set to break ground on largest downtown revitalization project in 50 years

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The O Street Project is set to be the biggest downtown revitalization project for Lincoln in the last 50 years.

It’s costing $35 million and is divided into three phases. The first phase is set to tackle work from 16th to 14th streets, strategically set to start after the Nebraska football season ends and the downtown area is slightly less crowded.

The Lincoln Transportation and Utilities Department held the last open house for the project on Tuesday night to communicate with the public before the groundbreaking.

“We’re replacing a 100-year-old water main, major street repairs throughout, shifting on-street bike lane from 14th to 11th and replacing almost every sidewalk in this area and tripling the amount of trees,” said Liz Elliot, Director of LTU.

She says it was time for a change, adding that, “How we utilize downtown is completely different.”

Todd Ogden is president of the Downtown Lincoln Association, which has served as a liaison between the city and businesses since 1967.

Ogden says business owners have few concerns about the project and welcome it.

“We want the infrastructure, we want the right of way, the sidewalks, the greenery to reflect the businesses that we have there,” says Ogden about the feedback from business owners.

Nader Sepahpur, owner of Yia Yia’s Pizza on O Street, feels good about the upcoming changes outlined by the city.

“There’s always uncertainty, of course, change has uncertainty, but it seems that we are trying to manage the uncertainties well,” he said.

LTU plans to help businesses like Yia Yia’s Pizza by providing extra signage to alert patrons that stores are still open.

“Additional signage will help all businesses in the area,” said Buck Kieschel of Kieschel Fine Art. “I think it’s setting up Lincoln in the right direction as a modern city,” he said.

Sophia Baker and Satori Maaske are local artists who rent studio space from Parrish Studio on O Street.

They both say they welcome this change and are not afraid of losing visitors to their studio showings.

“It’s nice to see downtown getting a more aesthetic appeal to it,” said Baker. “We welcome change,” said Maaske.

Both artists say the additional signage in the area will help, but they plan to promote their art space on social media as well.

LTU is also extending free parking at select parking garages and offering employees in the area discounts on street parking as construction moves from 16th Street to eventually Ninth Street.

“It’ll be a rolling project going from East to West. A block or two at a time, as we wrap up one area, we’ll just move slowly to the West,” said Elliot.

LTU says bids are now out for a contractor, which they hope to secure by December and then break ground by January 2026.

They are also planning to host weekly coffee chats for anyone in the city who would like to stay updated on their progress.