Reminder- The Nebraska Department of Roads Transportation meeting for our District Four will be held in Central City on November 7th at 7:00 pm at the Community Room, 1515 7th St.
This could affect the current status of the completion of the four-lane highway to St Paul.
(Lincoln Journal Star) -- There will be no money for new roads projects next year unless the state steps in with more money. Staff members at the state Department of Roads have crunched the numbers to determine how much the department can do with the $270 million in expected federal funding next year. Unless there are additional state dollars, the budget will cover traditional maintenance needs — what Roads Director John Craig calls “preservation of the system.” It will pay for necessary bridge replacements, a top state priority. And there will be some funds left to continue building six lanes of the interstate between Lincoln and Omaha, "albeit at a much slower pace." However, state senators are looking at revenue options, said Sen. Deb Fischer of Valentine, chairman of the Legislature’s Transportation and Telecommunications Committee.
Funding from the federal highway trust fund is expected to drop an estimated $4.3 billion in 2008. Nebraska’s share of the loss is about $114 million — $80 million for state government, $34 million for cities and counties. The pain could extend to local governments, Fischer noted, in the form of higher property taxes. Fischer said she and Sen. Lavon Heidemann, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, are working on different revenue options for roads. Fischer said she is unwilling to talk publicly about specifics until after she talks with other state senators and Gov. Dave Heineman.
- Thanks to the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce & Industry for this story summary.
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