Omaha World Herald wrote:
Military Road to get wider, smoother stretch
Parts of Military Road still have hills and curves that remind drivers of a rural area.
But with more homes and now a new commercial development springing up along the road, it's a growing part of Omaha's suburbs.
To handle the increased traffic, Military will be widened from two to three lanes from 114th to 126th Streets. The Douglas County Board approved that $2 million project Tuesday.
Turn lanes will be installed to help drivers going in and out of the Deer Creek and Cherry Ridge West subdivisions to the north of Military Road.
That's good news to Dave Smith. He and his wife, Judy, finished building a home in Deer Creek last year.
"There is a huge amount of traffic and the road is narrow," he said.
Smith takes Military west for a portion of his drive to work at 144th Street and West Dodge Road each day. He said seeing cars on the road can be difficult with the hills.
Another part of the project will lower hills and straighten some curves for better sight distance.
Most of the money for the project will come from Douglas County. About $200,000 will be provided by the Deer Creek and Cherry Ridge West subdivisions.
Bob Huck, attorney for Deer Creek, said the subdivision has about 450 lots, not all of which are built on yet.
A separate project will place commercial developments west of 120th Street north of Military.
Blackthorne Development is planning two 10,000-square-foot buildings, which may have retail and restaurants, said President Dave Davis. A convenience store and a small grocery store could also go in the area.
Work on the Military project is scheduled to begin in April and run until November, said Dan Kutilek, planning manager for the county Engineer's Office.
The county, he said, wanted to start the work last year, but couldn't until the city finished improvements on Fort Street between 108th and 120th Streets.
To move the county project along, Kutilek said officials built incentives into the contract. M.E. Collins Contracting of Wahoo can earn up to $135,000 extra for finishing the work early.
Kutilek said the county is following the city's lead in revamping how street projects are handled to avoid unnecessary delays.
It is bad. I always wonder why they go to only 3 lanes instead of four with all of the continued development that is taking place. I was really surprised when they only widened 132nd between Maple and Fort to 3 lanes, and then did 144th between those two with only 3 lanes as well.
I also wish they would go ahead and widen it to 132nd. Either way though this is progress.
I think they are going to 126 because there is going to be some commercial development or appartments on 126th st, otherwise I would guess they would stop at 120th st.
