City leaders beg lawmakers to prioritize expressway funding
Posted: Wednesday, February 20, 2008
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- A piecemeal approach to the state's expressway system is hurting Nebraska towns' ability to draw businesses and the money and population that comes with them, people from across the state told lawmakers Tuesday.
When a company comes into Norfolk, one of the first questions its owners ask is whether the community is linked to the interstate system by a four-lane expressway, said Sen. Mike Flood of Norfolk.
"When the answer is no, that's often the last you hear," he said.
For two decades, highway links intended to connect thousands of Nebraskans in midsize cities to Interstate 80 have remained unfinished.
On Tuesday, buses brought people from across the state to the Capitol for a public hearing on a bill (LB1129) to require the Department of Roads to prioritize completion of the expressway system, as well as a legislative resolution (LR232) to require public hearings and updates from the department.
Much of the talk was about how to fund the expressway, and Flood and others acknowledged that senators likely would have to consider increasing the gas tax.
"I don't think, frankly, you have a choice," said former Gov. Charley Thone, who testified on behalf of the Pan American Highway Association, which promotes tourism along Highway 81 running north and south through eastern Nebraska. "I understand the political implications of raising taxes."
Sen. Deb Fischer of Valentine has proposed a 5 percent fuel tax (LB846), which will be debated by the full Legislature. Other suggestions included issuing bonds or drawing money from the state's cash reserve.
Unfinished links include U.S. 275 between Omaha and Norfolk; U.S. 81 between Columbus and York; U.S. 75 between Bellevue and Nebraska City; U.S. 30 between Schuyler and Fremont; U.S. 77 between Wahoo and Fremont; Nebraska 2 near Lincoln; and Nebraska 71 from I-80 to north of Kimball.
"I think we have a crisis," said Allan Hale, president of the Fremont Chamber of Commerce. "I think we have a problem."
In Kimball, just north of I-80 in the Panhandle, a link of just a few miles remains incomplete.
It's hurting Kimball and surrounding towns, said Rawnda Pierce, executive director of the Twin Cities Development Association, which serves the Scottsbluff and Gering area north of Kimball.
Pierce said at least two large businesses that would have brought hundreds of jobs each recently decided not to locate in the area because of the lack of connection to an expressway and the bottleneck in Kimball.
"You can't run 400 trucks a day through downtown Kimball," Pierce said.
A low overpass on Highway 71 in the city causes some trucks to come screeching to a halt, then detour several miles on gravel roads, said Kim Baliman, executive director of the Kimball-Banner County Chamber of Commerce.
Heavy truck traffic through downtown creates hazards as children and elderly people try to cross the street, she said, and many find the smell of cattle trucks driving through downtown offensive.
Doug Cunningham, a lobbyist for Affiliated Foods Midwest in Norfolk, said the grocery store cooperative needs the expressway to continue to grow.
"I can't tell you how important this is to us," Cunningham said at a news conference at the Capitol on Tuesday. The company employs 650 people, he said, and more than 1,000 trucks go in and out of the facility every week.
Three bills considered earlier by the committee would transfer money from the state's cash reserve to help complete the roads: $16 million in a bill (LB1035) from Sen. LeRoy Louden of Ellsworth, $50 million in a bill (LB771) from Sen. Tim Gay of Papillion; and $73 million under a bill (LB1139) from Sen. Joel Johnson of Kearney.
Michael Nolan, Norfolk's city manager, said he and many others support all the bills.
Mostly, he said, they want the expressway project back on people's radar.
"None of us is selfish enough to want just our areas to be finished," said Marlene Johnson, mayor of West Point. "We want the message out there that this is important."
Baliman said the "on-again, off-again" nature of plans for the expressway has caused the most problems for the Kimball area.
"We have businesses and industries hinging on where are they going to put the road," she said. "Our land owners ... are kind of held hostage right now."
On the Net:
Nebraska Legislature: www.nebraskalegislature.gov
Nebraska Department of Roads: www.dor.state.ne.us
When a company comes into Norfolk, one of the first questions its owners ask is whether the community is linked to the interstate system by a four-lane expressway, said Sen. Mike Flood of Norfolk.
"When the answer is no, that's often the last you hear," he said.
For two decades, highway links intended to connect thousands of Nebraskans in midsize cities to Interstate 80 have remained unfinished.
On Tuesday, buses brought people from across the state to the Capitol for a public hearing on a bill (LB1129) to require the Department of Roads to prioritize completion of the expressway system, as well as a legislative resolution (LR232) to require public hearings and updates from the department.
Much of the talk was about how to fund the expressway, and Flood and others acknowledged that senators likely would have to consider increasing the gas tax.
"I don't think, frankly, you have a choice," said former Gov. Charley Thone, who testified on behalf of the Pan American Highway Association, which promotes tourism along Highway 81 running north and south through eastern Nebraska. "I understand the political implications of raising taxes."
Sen. Deb Fischer of Valentine has proposed a 5 percent fuel tax (LB846), which will be debated by the full Legislature. Other suggestions included issuing bonds or drawing money from the state's cash reserve.
Unfinished links include U.S. 275 between Omaha and Norfolk; U.S. 81 between Columbus and York; U.S. 75 between Bellevue and Nebraska City; U.S. 30 between Schuyler and Fremont; U.S. 77 between Wahoo and Fremont; Nebraska 2 near Lincoln; and Nebraska 71 from I-80 to north of Kimball.
"I think we have a crisis," said Allan Hale, president of the Fremont Chamber of Commerce. "I think we have a problem."
In Kimball, just north of I-80 in the Panhandle, a link of just a few miles remains incomplete.
It's hurting Kimball and surrounding towns, said Rawnda Pierce, executive director of the Twin Cities Development Association, which serves the Scottsbluff and Gering area north of Kimball.
Pierce said at least two large businesses that would have brought hundreds of jobs each recently decided not to locate in the area because of the lack of connection to an expressway and the bottleneck in Kimball.
"You can't run 400 trucks a day through downtown Kimball," Pierce said.
A low overpass on Highway 71 in the city causes some trucks to come screeching to a halt, then detour several miles on gravel roads, said Kim Baliman, executive director of the Kimball-Banner County Chamber of Commerce.
Heavy truck traffic through downtown creates hazards as children and elderly people try to cross the street, she said, and many find the smell of cattle trucks driving through downtown offensive.
Doug Cunningham, a lobbyist for Affiliated Foods Midwest in Norfolk, said the grocery store cooperative needs the expressway to continue to grow.
"I can't tell you how important this is to us," Cunningham said at a news conference at the Capitol on Tuesday. The company employs 650 people, he said, and more than 1,000 trucks go in and out of the facility every week.
Three bills considered earlier by the committee would transfer money from the state's cash reserve to help complete the roads: $16 million in a bill (LB1035) from Sen. LeRoy Louden of Ellsworth, $50 million in a bill (LB771) from Sen. Tim Gay of Papillion; and $73 million under a bill (LB1139) from Sen. Joel Johnson of Kearney.
Michael Nolan, Norfolk's city manager, said he and many others support all the bills.
Mostly, he said, they want the expressway project back on people's radar.
"None of us is selfish enough to want just our areas to be finished," said Marlene Johnson, mayor of West Point. "We want the message out there that this is important."
Baliman said the "on-again, off-again" nature of plans for the expressway has caused the most problems for the Kimball area.
"We have businesses and industries hinging on where are they going to put the road," she said. "Our land owners ... are kind of held hostage right now."
On the Net:
Nebraska Legislature: www.nebraskalegislature.gov
Nebraska Department of Roads: www.dor.state.ne.us
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