South 24th about to lose a lane

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BRoss
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South 24th about to lose a lane

Post by BRoss »

South 24th about to lose a lane
A four-lane stretch of South 24th Street coming out of downtown Omaha is about to go on a "road diet."

The City of Omaha won a $1.2 million grant from the Nebraska Department of Roads to take a four-lane street down to three lanes between Leavenworth and L Streets. The extra space would be given over to dedicated bike lanes and nicer sidewalks along the stretch.
StreetsOfOmaha
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Post by StreetsOfOmaha »

Interesting. Obviously this is a key route to Downtown from South Omaha, which I'm guessing is why they were able to get the grant. And wow, dedicated bike lanes and improved sidewalks all the way from South O to Downtown will be a HUGE improvement.

Also, 24th Street just south of Leavenworth is pretty desolate, so I wonder if the City means to target this area for infill development and revitalization.

The article also mentions "creation of a bicycle safety program aimed at people who ride in 'mixed traffic' areas." That is also intriguing.

All around, some pretty good news. I'm very happy to see that NDOR is a participant here, along with the City, MAPA, and Activate Omaha.
"The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is actually the right to destroy the city."
Lewis Mumford, The Highway and the City, 1963
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Seth
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Post by Seth »

Definitely an interesting project with the potential to make the area more attractive (both visually and for investment).  I could totally see the kinds of projects like the new one down on 10th st. being built here, joining up at Leavenworth with more infill similar to the new apartment building down the street.
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iamjacobm
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Post by iamjacobm »

Mention in the agenda for engineering services for the 24th St road diet.
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Re: South 24th about to lose a lane

Post by iamjacobm »

Another mention in the agenda for this project.
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Re: South 24th about to lose a lane

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Busguy2010
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Re: South 24th about to lose a lane

Post by Busguy2010 »

Rather interesting rediscovery indeed, that it took about a decade from talk to implementation for this project to be completed. Just goes to show even the simplest things take time. Woulda thought it could have been restriped several years ago. BUT, they also resurfaced it, so I guess.

I still wouldn't want to be a motorist getting stuck behind a bus on this stretch with no passable lanes. I guess that is the whole idea though. If you can't beat the bus, join the bus, or ride a bike, or walk, or don't move :)
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Re: South 24th about to lose a lane

Post by riceweb »

Busguy2010 wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 11:33 pm Rather interesting rediscovery indeed, that it took about a decade from talk to implementation for this project to be completed. Just goes to show even the simplest things take time. Woulda thought it could have been restriped several years ago. BUT, they also resurfaced it, so I guess.

I still wouldn't want to be a motorist getting stuck behind a bus on this stretch with no passable lanes. I guess that is the whole idea though. If you can't beat the bus, join the bus, or ride a bike, or walk, or don't move :)
I think it's fair to say that Omaha is largely unable to execute projects. This is a common complaint in most cities, but I had always thought Omaha was more capable of getting things done. It seems like unless there are federal dollars associated with a project (like with ORBT), we can expect something to stay in our backlog for years, getting kicked down the road even when it's a small change like this.
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