County Engineer Announces Funding for South 68th Street – Firth Road to Stagecoach Road

The above shows the roadway of South 68 th Street with the current cross-section of two 11’ drive lanes. The road will be improved to standard 14’ lanes with shoulders. This will give drivers additional room to safely recover if they leave the paved surface.

(KFOR NEWS April 13, 2022) The Lancaster County Engineering Department announces $5.3 million in Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) funding and $3.9 million in Lincoln metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) funding for South 68th Street from Stagecoach Road to Firth Road.

Lancaster County Engineer Pam Dingman said in a release that the $9.2 million in funding, coupled with the $1.0 million that Lancaster County Commissioners placed in reserve funds last year, will go a long way to funding the nearly $10.8 million proposed project, which will consist of intersection and roadway improvements.

The Lancaster County Engineering Team has been studying this corridor since 2018.

The current configuration of South 68th Street consists of two 11’ drive lanes and no earth or paved shoulders. In addition, the intersections in this corridor do not have turn lanes. There are many types of crashes in this corridor, including run-off the road, rear end, and sideswipes. Increased traffic on South 68th Street has created an amplified risk to safety for the traveling public.

The 68th Street corridor is home to the Norris School District’s Campus. South 68th Street has, many school permit drivers and increased traffic with local growth. This has created many
dangerous situations for young drivers and others in this busy corridor. The Norris School District and the traveling public have continued to request that improvements be made to this
very important corridor in Lancaster County.

Lancaster County Engineering Department expects that construction could start as early as 2025.

Thursday at 1:00 PM, this project will appear on the MPO Technical Committee Agenda for approval in the 2022-2025 Lincoln/Lancaster County Transportation Improvement Program
(TIP). Additional approval votes will be needed at the Lincoln/Lancaster County Planning Commission and the MPO Officials Committee.

The Lancaster County Engineer’s website has a complete listing of bridges and roads currently closed in Lancaster County. For more information, please visit the website at
https://www.lancaster.ne.gov/207/County-Engineer or call 402-441-7681.