Blair Bypass Proposed

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OhioStreetKid
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Blair Bypass Proposed

Post by OhioStreetKid »

Why not an elevated expressway in downtown Blair? :wink:
Traffic bypass could help the heart of Blair

BY MARION RHODES



WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
BLAIR, Neb. - Blair looks to Omaha's Old Market with envy.


Trucks travel through downtown Blair near Sixth Street. In a recent three-minute period, 15 semitrailers passed.

The patio diners. The late-evening shoppers. The downtown apartment dwellers.

Even though Blair has spruced up its downtown over the past two years, few people use its new sidewalks, sit on the new benches or stroll under the new lanterns. Attempts to attract retailers or restaurants have been unsuccessful so far.

The biggest deterrent, officials agree, is busy highway traffic rolling through the middle of Blair's historic downtown.

"A lot of the people don't go down there because they're afraid to park," said City Administrator Rod Storm. "They're afraid that when they're going to get out of their car, someone is going to take their door off."

Blair's downtown main street - Washington Street - takes traffic from U.S. Highways 30 and 75 through town.

Brian Ray, of HWS Consulting Group. of Omaha, said the half-mile stretch carries about 15,000 vehicles a day past downtown businesses. Many of them are commercial trucks.

The City of Blair hired HWS to study how building a bypass would affect downtown traffic, Storm said. The results, presented to the City Council last week, suggested that without changes, Washington Street traffic would increase to 20,000 vehicles per day by 2030.

If a bypass were built south, east and north around Blair and other road improvements were made, the number of vehicles traveling on Washington Street could be cut to 12,000 daily, the study predicted.

Proprosed Blair bypass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



The bypass project is in the early planning stages. An environmental impact study required to qualify for state and federal funding won't be completed until 2006, Storm said.

Once the environmental study is done, the City of Blair would ask the Nebraska Department of Roads to take on the project, Storm said.

"At this point in time, it's nowhere on their radar," he said.

That means a bypass could be a long time coming, and Blair leaders don't want to wait to bring life back to their downtown.

Harriet Waite, executive director of the Blair Chamber of Commerce, said people have a notion about what they need - a "cute" family restaurant and more retailers.

"There's lots of great ideas," Waite said. "It's just finding the places that are interested."

A local developer and bank hope to lure businesses with incentives - among them a rental assistance program and low-interest loans to make improvements. But five downtown buildings remain unoccupied.

In a recent article in the Chicago Tribune, reporter Mike Conklin offered a challenge to Blair's City Hall: Can Chicago remodel its block 37 before Blair whips its block 37 into shape? Conklin had stumbled upon Blair's downtown project while doing Internet research and decided to write about it, Waite said.

Although Blair's plans go beyond block 37 - which is on Washington Street between 16th and 17th Streets - the article has revived local energy.

"I feel like it's the David and Goliath story," Waite said. "I'd love to call them and say, 'Nah, nah, nah, nah!'"

The chamber has formed a Retail Recruitment Committee to work to attract new businesses.

Waite said the committee is looking for unique businesses that would complement existing stores, which include a glassware gallery, an interior design boutique and a women's apparel store.

Storm said luring businesses and shoppers from Omaha and surrounding communities is a difficult task.

"There's the fear of the Big O," Waite said. "How are we going to compete with it? We have to focus on niche businesses. We want Omaha to come to Blair for something different."

Stores that go beyond the basic necessities and that invite people to browse would work well, said Retail Committee Chairman Mike Earleywine.

"We're looking for something more like the Old Market," Earleywine said. "We're trying to create an experience here."

Whatever their focus, business owners with a sense of community would be welcome, said Sandy Carmichael, who owns a flower and gift shop downtown.

Friendly customer service and the ability to work with other businesses are requirements to survive in small-town America, she said.

"If the other shops do well," Carmichael said, "it's going to be beneficial to all of us."
projectman
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Post by projectman »

The "Blair Dig" might relieve all of that traffic congestion on Main Street. I hear there's gridlock 24/7. :lol: :shock:
StreetsOfOmaha
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Post by StreetsOfOmaha »

"The patio diners. The late-evening shoppers. The downtown apartment dwellers."

I don't know what that is in reference to. I was just in Blair a couple weeks ago and none of that exists.

My friend and I took a road trip there on a whim. We wanted to find a charming little place to eat and stroll around a little, but for some reason most of the places were closed on a Saturday. They did a good job sprucing up their mainstreet, but it's still dead as a doornail.
"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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Coyote
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Re: Blair Bypass Proposed

Post by Coyote »

Bypass in Blair aims to reduce truck traffic downtown



Nearly one fifth of traffic through downtown Blair are trucks, but a bypass in south Blair could change that.
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Greg S
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Re: Blair Bypass Proposed

Post by Greg S »

This is really needed. They do get a ton of semi's driving through downtown Blair daily.

Greg
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Re: Blair Bypass Proposed

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Construction on Blair bypass to begin Monday


Construction is scheduled to begin Monday on a bypass on the south side of Blair. The $7.56 million BUILD grant for the project was approved in 2020 after decades of consideration.


Bypass grant approved, will 'vastly increase the safety' of traffic in downtown Blair

BLAIR, Neb. — Blair, Nebraska has wait two decades for a bypass to help keep business and residential roads safe. Now, that time has come. A $7.56 million BUILD grant will create a bypass in the southside of Blair that will divert trucks from driving downtown on Washington Street.
ita
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Re: Blair Bypass Proposed

Post by ita »

That's great! I saw a post on FB from Bike Walk Nebraska comparing Blair's downtown and Ashland's. The contrast was stark. Blair needs this for a more pedestrian friendly business district.
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Re: Blair Bypass Proposed

Post by Coyote »

I asked the Moderators to move this thread to the Suburban Omaha Development thread.
BC johns
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Re: Blair Bypass Proposed

Post by BC johns »

Does anyone have a view of the actual ""'bypass"?
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Brad
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Re: Blair Bypass Proposed

Post by Brad »

BC johns wrote: Mon Jan 09, 2023 12:31 pm Does anyone have a view of the actual ""'bypass"?
Its just north of Walmart and runs east west
https://dot.nebraska.gov/media/8815/blairsfc.pdf
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Re: Blair Bypass Proposed

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Start of construction on Blair bypass delayed another week by paperwork glitch


BLAIR, Neb. — A paperwork glitch delays a phase of the Blair bypass that was set to begin Monday by another week. But neighbors and business owners say the project can't start soon enough.
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Re: Blair Bypass Proposed

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Washington County's proposed zoning changes create divide among residents, city leaders


Blair City Administrator Rod Storm says his town is "primed for growth." Storm believes a development plan would benefit Washington County. Part of that plan includes zoning changes, but not everyone is on board. Thursday's meeting is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. at the Blair Public Library.

"There's concern if now, or in the future, the rezoning would restrict what's able to be done," Stangl said. The comprehensive plan would most heavily affect north of Blair and Highway 30, as well as between Highway 133 and Highway 75.
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