Lincoln’s Recovery Street Projects
Five of the City of Lincoln's Recovery Act street projects are among the first urban street projects to obtain federal approval.
The rehabilitation projects are:
- Adams Street from 57th to 62nd streets
- “A” Street from 63rd to 70th streets
- “A” Street from 70th to Imperial streets
- Van Dorn from Normal to 70th streets
- Superior Street Bridge over Salt Creek
In February, the City was awarded about $9.3 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding for streets and roads. Beutler quickly directed the City Public Works and Utilities Department to add $6.9 million in local street funds for a combined roads package of about $16.2 million. The Mayor's strategy in using the funds for street rehabilitation instead of new road construction allowed the City to meet the one-year stimulus time frame and “get more bang for the buck” – the City can rehabilitate 7.8 miles of streets for the same cost as building one mile of new four-lane road.
“By fixing existing streets and combining our funding sources, we are able to spread the projects over a large area of the City,” Beutler said. “Eventually, we will rehabilitate 35 segments of 17 different major streets. That adds up to about 20 miles of major street rehabilitation throughout our community. The City uses a pavement management analysis system to determine the condition of City roads and help prioritize repairs.”
The remainder of Lincoln's stimulus-funded street projects are scheduled for bidding by NDOR in late January. Most of the projects are planned for construction next year, with many scheduled for completion in 2011. For a complete list of stimulus projects, visit the City's Web site, lincoln.ne.gov (keyword: stimulus).
