Roads Department awards $6.2 million for trails, projects

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By the Lincoln Journal Star

Four Lincoln-area projects will share in $6.1 million in transportation enhancement grants announced Monday by the Nebraska Department of Roads.

* The City of Lincoln was awarded $380,036 for improvements on a four-block segment of West O Street between Third Street and the Salt Creek Bridge. Funds will be spent  to create a historical interpretive plaza commemorating the Detroit-Lincoln-Denver Highway; streetscape improvements to West O Street; and construction of a 370-foot-long Salt Creek Levee Connector Trail.

* Wyuka Cemetery was awarded $500,000 for renovation of the cemetery stable building. The project includes renovation of the exterior facades and interior courtyard.

* The Lower Platte South Natural Resources District was awarded $201,134 for the design and construction of a railroad undercrossing and trail connection. This project removes the need for a five-block detour off the Salt Creek Levee Trail.

* The Nebraska Forest Service and University of Nebraska-Lincoln were awarded $500,000 for continuation of the Nebraska Community Enhancement Program. This program provides funds to communities and other public entities in Nebraska for landscaping projects that improve transportation corridors.

“These projects are making a significant contribution to the quality of life in Nebraska communities — from the smallest village to the largest city,” Roads Director John Craig said in a news release.

Since 1993, the Roads Department has supported more than 800 transportation enhancement projects throughout the state.

The Transportation Enhancement Program, part of the federal highway bill, provides money to local, state, and regional governmental entities to construct and restore transportation infrastructure that are not eligible to be funded through other programs.

Examples include: recreational trails for pedestrians and bicycles, development of scenic byways,  and restoration of historic transportation facilities. Other projects that received funding are:

* The City of Omaha; $1.5 million for the new Missouri River pedestrian bridge connecting Omaha and Council Bluffs, Iowa.

* The Village of Cairo; $118,726 for design and installation of landscaping along Nebraska 11.

* Dawes County; $4,480 to purchase and install two interpretive markers on the Gold Rush Byway (U.S. 385) in northwest Nebraska.

* The Nebraska State Historical Society; $21,760 for the continuation of a project to systematically preserve Nebraska’s official highway historical markers.

* The City of Omaha; $500,000 for the restoration of brick street paving and curbs in the Old Market Historic District.

* The City of Bennington; $331,425 for design and construction of a 1-mile trail.

* The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission; $499,666 for design and construction of a 1.4-mile-long trail, including the rehabilitation of two Fort Kearny Trail bridges across the Platte River.

* The City of Franklin; $296,217 for design and construction of a 4,775 -foot-long trail.

* The Lewis and Clark Natural Resources District; $170,900 for the design and construction of a 6,200- foot-long trail on the Missouri River bank parallel to Nebraska 121.

* The Village of McCool Junction; $219,186 for the design and construction of a 4,200-foot-long  trail.

* The City of Papillion; $498,960 for the design and construction of a 6,700-foot-long trail.

* The City of Springfield; $451,505 for the design and construction of a 3,000-foot-long trail.