Omaha Streetcar - CONSTRUCTION

[stadsborgare]

Today they are doing curb work at 10th & Capitol. All that's left now is the curing, then the striping, then it's back open to traffic.

[thenewguy]

A lot of folks think/thought that it basically was just rip up some concrete, put down some track, and repour concrete, when in reality it's kind of like an iceberg: 90% of what's going on is beneath the surface. The rest should go pretty quickly.

[skinzfan23]

Yes, I know this isn't the discussion thread, but so much of the work so far hasn't been even related to the streetcar for the most part. The utilities were a huge pain, I just wish people would blame MUD for that and not get upset towards the streetcar.

[thenewguy]

Yes, I know this isn't the discussion thread, but so much of the work so far hasn't been even related to the streetcar for the most part. The utilities were a huge pain, I just wish people would blame MUD for that and not get upset towards the streetcar.

agree. I feel like there could have been a much better job from a PR perspective explaining the process to the public

[stadsborgare]

Rails are on site between 9th & 10th Streets on Farnam.

[stadsborgare]

The intersection of 10th & Capitol is back open to traffic in both directions, and all four corners open to crosswalking pedestrians. Plus cars can go eastbound on Capitol past 10th, thereby driving across the tracks to do so.

So...that means this one little itty bitty part of the streetcar line is DONE! DONE, DONE, DONE! It's progress.

[halgy]

FWIW, when the streetcar people gave a informational session in February, they said pavement for the 10th and Capitol section would be completed from June to September. Maybe they have a bunch more to do and are just getting the intersection ready for CWS, but maybe this means they're running ahead of schedule. Hope springs eternal.

[Busguy2010]

This section is also on wire, so id guess theres quite a bit more work to do here, just taking a break now that they can get it open to traffic in time for the CWS.

[stadsborgare]

This section is also on wire, so id guess theres quite a bit more work to do here, just taking a break now that they can get it open to traffic in time for the CWS.

Well, yeah, but I didn't mean "done" in that sense - but more like there will be no more tearing up concrete and cones blocking lanes due to mainline construction - at this particular intersection.

[stadsborgare]

Sometime in the past week a crew poured concrete on a stretch of tracks in the Midtown Crossing area.

It was not quite where I thought they'd start. The portion they did is over the 33rd Street intersection plane running about half a block. I thought they'd start just east of that.

So for those keeping score, at the start of May there was about 1/2 a block of track locked in place by concrete. And by the start of June there's 3 1/2 blocks locked in place. (10th north from Dodge, rounding onto Capitol to 9th - 2 blocks, 8th Street between Douglas and Farnam - 1 block, and this half a block across 33rd Steet and Farnam)

[iamjacobm]

Sometime in the past week a crew poured concrete on a stretch of tracks in the Midtown Crossing area.

It was not quite where I thought they'd start. The portion they did is over the 33rd Street intersection plane running about half a block. I thought they'd start just east of that.

So for those keeping score, at the start of May there was about 1/2 a block of track locked in place by concrete. And by the start of June there's 3 1/2 blocks locked in place. (10th north from Dodge, rounding onto Capitol to 9th - 2 blocks, 8th Street between Douglas and Farnam - 1 block, and this half a block across 33rd Steet and Farnam)

They were out pouring on Friday in Midtown. Wondering if they are focusing on cross street segments first to get them opened up.

[stadsborgare]

I noticed while attending the Taste of Omaha, they have begun paving the street around the tracks on 8th Street. Still closed off as of now, but by the CWS ought to be wide open to crossing pedestrian traffic.

[stadsborgare]

Friday a crew was pouring more concrete to fill up the gaps on Capitol east of 10th.




So now they have it nearly complete with rail encased all the way past what would be 9th Street, and starting to curve southeast down the hill towards the Maintenance Facility.


They also provided a temporary fix to the line terminated near Dodge, so all 4 lanes on 10th will be open to traffic during the CWS.

[stadsborgare]

As work downtown seems to have cooled off a bit due to the CWS, I took a walk through midtown yesterday and noticed a lot has happened in the past week.

That initial section of track aligned, which our former mayors signed in a ceremony, has been poured now.


There is a little gap between it and the other poured section done weeks earlier.




Then going further up the hill, you can see it from the other direction. By the looks of things, more concrete pours might be imminent.

But it doesn't stop there. Since last I checked, they have extended aligning the rails past the steps of the First Presbyterian Church, all the way up to the Carnac apartments construction site,



And there are rails waiting to be set in place, all the way almost to the door of the Crescent Moon.

So that's one continuous stretch of track from the middle of Midtown Crossing to about the beginning of the Blackstone neighborhood, oh about 4 blocks worth. There's still a few spots in between where they have to do some welding yet.

[Brad]

The actual track construction is so fast compared to all the utility work before it.

[Garrett]

The actual track construction is so fast compared to all the utility work before it.

Yeah being able to set everything up in advance vs the guesswork of 100 year old utilities does a lot.

[Louie]

The actual track construction is so fast compared to all the utility work before it.

Yeah being able to set everything up in advance vs the guesswork of 100 year old utilities does a lot.

Plus it’s mostly surface level now, no digging is a huge advantage.

[skinzfan23]

As work downtown seems to have cooled off a bit due to the CWS, I took a walk through midtown yesterday and noticed a lot has happened in the past week.

Thank you so much for all the streetcar updates. I was able to see that they poured that section from one of the city cams, but seeing it at street level is awesome. Keep the updates coming. I along with everyone else here, love them.

[Louie]

As work downtown seems to have cooled off a bit due to the CWS, I took a walk through midtown yesterday and noticed a lot has happened in the past week.

Thank you so much for all the streetcar updates. I was able to see that they poured that section from one of the city cams, but seeing it at street level is awesome. Keep the updates coming. I along with everyone else here, love them.

Yes, retweet big time.

[Samuel]

Midtown is looking good. They should be opening 33rd and Farnam soon!

The first part of the designated bike way is in place and Farnam bridge is getting poured.

And 8th looks very close!

[BRoss]

I kind of wish I still lived down at Midtown Crossing. It would be great to walk through and watch the progress daily.

[Dusty]

Omaha Streetcar Authority has a dashboard on their website for construction updates. It's broken into 6 segments.
Looks like Midtown is leading on progress done for mainline construction.

https://www.omahastreetcar.org/construc ... dashboard/

[stadsborgare]

One thing I notice that's different downtown from the past week is that the tracks between 9th & 10th on Farnam have been aligned. They had been delivered on site weeks ago, but now you see they've worked on them a little bit.

Local news outlets have said work downtown will slow for a couple weeks to accomodate the College World Series traffic, but

that doesn't seem to have slowed them down under the I-480 bridge at 8th Street behind the Beebe & Runyan building. Seems like full steam ahead.

Of course, they're not in anyone's way down there, so why not? And it's work that must be done just like anywhere else, so the CWS seems like the perfect opportunity to get a lot done in that particular area.

I was down there yesterday and could hear the heavy machinery breaking up the concrete and clearing the way for tracks. So it doesn't seem like they "slowed down." It's just some smart scheduling.

[Samuel]

The track prep/ cement pouring is moving along quickly in midtown. I love the plan to road diet Harney and widen the sidewalks. It’s just funny they are aiming to start and complete that project all in 2027! Might as well do everything at the same time . I hope they install protected bike lanes on Harney to connect the bikeway all the way to UNMC.

[stadsborgare]

At this point in midtown, there is continuous track starting from 31st Ave and ending at about 36th St. So that is 5 blocks of aligned tracks..

There are 3 sections of concrete embedding the tracks. Each is about a half a block long. They pour half a block at a time. Each concrete section has some gaps between them, which I gather they do it so they can do some welding in between because it's locked in place that way.



The intersection of 33rd and Farnam is now back open to traffic at least for the time being until they come back and do the other side.


In this photo, it looks like the forms are in place, so maybe another concrete pour happening imminently.

[locoluke]

Void causes downtown parking garage evacuation

It's not a text message that Parker Krain was expecting to receive on Tuesday, but with streetcar construction right outside his front door, it's not the first time there's been issues.

"Urgent car removal from garage. We have been informed of a safety issue concerning our garages," Krain read the text message from his building.

The safety issues refers to a hole that has opened up underneath a streetcar rail at 9th and Farnam. Tuesday morning, the void was a new discovery for residents of the Greenhouse Apartments.

[stadsborgare]

They have been working on the curve at 8th Street turning onto Farnam.

[stadsborgare]

This is the furthest extent east of the line in Midtown before that turnoff point.


Some more sections were poured -- a week ago there were 3 separate segments, then it became 5, but then in the last three days it's now 4 segments because they connected two of them after welding tracks together between them.


And now here's another spot where tracks await to be welded together, so they can then fill in this gap, too. I think that is their modus operandi.


The newest section poured, the furthest west, takes you up to the Carnac apartments construction site.


And then aligned tracks are leading all the way up to the front door of the Crescent Moon.


So, in short, tracks laid from Turner Boulevard to the Crescent Moon.

As for the sinkhole cave-in,

You can see they're getting it taken care of.

[Busguy2010]

I always thought it curious they have a turnaround at Turner Boulevard. I'd guess just a contingency for accidents or sink hole, or whatever reason the west end would be closed, but that opens the door for short trips (for better or worse), or a good turnaround point for a different line somewhere off the east end of the current line.

[Brad]

Glass Going in on the Streetcar Barn.

1.

20260628881A2653.jpg

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[locoluke]

I couldn’t get a picture, but there’s a turnout on the west side of 8th Street under the I-480 on-ramp, presumably waiting to be installed at the VMF.

[stadsborgare]

I couldn’t get a picture, but there’s a turnout on the west side of 8th Street under the I-480 on-ramp, presumably waiting to be installed at the VMF.

[stadsborgare]

Primed for a concrete pouring - 8th St onto Farnam



Tracks have been laid out on Farnam between 10th and 11th Streets.


So at this point, there are tracks laid out in some form or other leading from 8th & Douglas to 11th and Farnam with the obvious gap that is 10th Street, which is for a later date.

[stadsborgare]

~in Midtown~

As it stands now, the concrete-embedded tracks run continuously from Turner Boulevard all the way to 34th Street, without a break, without a gap.. Done.

from Turner


from 34th

Now all that's left to do is complete street paving around it, as they've started to here:


So Midtown Crossing can open up completely again soon, at least for a couple months until they come back and work on the other side (for the double tracks). As I understand it, once they've reached 40th Street they will then work west-to-east for the other side.

In the meantime, they progress further west into Blackstone, which will still have barricades all summer I suppose.

It looks like they are prepping for another concrete pouring, this being in front of the Carnac Apartments worksite:


So it's all coming along!

[almighty_tuna]

Thanks for all the updates and pics!

[Busguy2010]

Thanks for all the updates and pics!

Seconded! Your updates are the only way I see how its coming along and have caused me to go Downtown more often than usual.

[Busguy2010]

I found it comical how farnam street is now, like a maze.

[Mapguy]

Looking at Farnam st it looks like all work stops at 39th; which would be the last stop. Im assuming there wont be a loop---will both tracks just converge at that station like a V so its a 1 track station?

[Brad]

Looking at Farnam st it looks like all work stops at 39th; which would be the last stop. Im assuming there wont be a loop---will both tracks just converge at that station like a V so its a 1 track station?

That was the plan last I saw. That's what KC did too before their expansion, not sure what they do down there now.

[Garrett]