Senators invite expressway supporters to Capitol
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BY NANCY HICKS / Lincoln Journal Star
Nebraskans who want the state’s four-lane expressway system completed are invited to the Legislature on Tuesday to show support for a bill that would require the Department of Roads to pay attention to the expressway system needs.
Sen. Mike Flood of Norfolk, speaker of the Legislature, flanked by eight other rural senators, issued the invitation Thursday.
The Norfolk Chamber of Commerce is organizing the rally in support of the expressway system and two bills, introduced by Flood, that are scheduled for public hearings before the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee on Tuesday.
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“We are not here today to poach dollars away from other areas” that need roads, Flood said. “We want a systemwide solution that addresses the needs of the entire state.”
One of the bills (LB1129) requires the Roads Department to make expressways a part of the roads-planning process each year and to consider the economic development potential of better roads.
The rural senators each described the need to finish the system in their regions.
The history of Nebraska is largely based on infrastructure — rivers, then trails, then roads, said Sen. Greg Adams of York.
“Doing nothing to finish the expressway system is ignoring our history,” he said.
Since 1988, the state has built about 420 miles of the original 600-mile system — four-lane highways designed to link towns of 15,000 with Interstate 80.
This year, department leaders said the agency would not be able to continue working on the new sections unless funding increases.
Reach Nancy Hicks 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.
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I know that this is important to many towns, but how would it get paid for with the decreased funds coming from the federal government? We all would love to have four lane highways to the interstate, but how realistic is that. The four lanes to Freemont has seemed to die at Wahoo. And that tooks years. Couldn't they create a type interchange there and head one to Freemont and then one to Clumbus and Norfolk?
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