Lincoln is getting $11.7 million in federal money to overhaul a stretch of West O Street that has carried some of the city's deadliest traffic in recent years. The project calls for four multi-lane roundabouts, raised medians and new pedestrian crossings along nearly 1.8 miles of roadway that sees up to 22,000 vehicles a day.
The grant comes through the U.S. Department of Transportation's Safe Streets and Roads for All program, according to Nebraska Public Media. The full project is expected to cost $14.6 million, with the city covering $2.9 million in local matching funds, KLIN reports. The work will stretch between Northwest 22nd and Third streets, an area that doubles as a major entry point into the city.
Four Roundabouts Planned for a Busy Corridor
Per KLIN's reporting, the project includes four multi-lane roundabouts at Northwest 20th Street, Capitol Beach Boulevard, Roundhouse Drive and U.S. 6/Sun Valley Boulevard. An earlier account from the Journal Star had described the proposed roundabouts as sitting at Northwest 20th Street, Capitol Beach Boulevard, Sun Valley Boulevard and First Street, a discrepancy in the public record that hasn't been resolved.
Beyond the roundabouts, the plan calls for raised medians and access-management changes along the entire corridor, plus a dedicated turn lane at Northwest 16th Street. New pedestrian crossings, refuge islands and other multimodal safety features round out the design, according to Nebraska Public Media's account of the city's announcement. As KOLN reported, the corridor serves freight traffic, transit riders, businesses, industrial properties, social service providers and the surrounding neighborhoods, making it one of the busiest and most varied stretches of roadway in the city.
A Deadly Stretch of Road
The stakes behind the project are grim. Four of Lincoln's 78 traffic fatalities occurred within the project area during a recent five-year analysis period, the city said, as reported by Nebraska Public Media. City officials estimate the redesign could prevent about 25 fatal or serious-injury crashes and 146 additional injury crashes over the next 20 years.
The city also projects the project would generate about $78 million in safety benefits over that span, the same KLIN report states. That estimate differs from an earlier Journal Star account, which cited a projection of $40 million in crash-cost savings over two decades — a discrepancy that remains unresolved in the public record. Officials cited Federal Highway Administration data indicating the proposed countermeasures can reduce crashes by about 39% to 42%, depending on the specific improvement, per KLIN's report.
Mayor Credits Congressional Support
Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird said investing in West O Street supports eliminating traffic fatalities and serious-injury crashes while also benefiting businesses, redevelopment, accessibility and the city's entryway, according to KOLN. She thanked Nebraska's congressional delegation — U.S. Senators Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts and U.S. Representative Mike Flood — for supporting the grant application, KOLN reported.
The city says the safety improvements were identified using crash history, traffic and operational analysis, roadway conditions, and the Safe Streets Lincoln Vision Zero Action Plan, which the City Council adopted in March, per KLIN. Officials have said key stakeholders and community members will be involved throughout design, preconstruction and construction, though the announcement did not include a construction timeline.
Part of a Larger Funding Push
The West O Street award pushes Lincoln's competitive U.S. Department of Transportation discretionary grant funding to more than $100 million, according to the city's own figures cited by KLIN. Previous awards have included $23.6 million for the Multimodal Transportation Center, $66.7 million for the 33rd Street and Cornhusker Highway intersection project, and $400,000 for earlier safety planning work, the station reported.
The city's own transportation data notes that monitoring crash trends and implementing safety improvements is considered essential to maintaining mobility, economic development and opportunity across Lincoln, according to the City of Lincoln. For now, residents along West O Street are left waiting to see when the roundabouts, medians and crossings will actually break ground.
