LINCOLN — Beefed-up state oversight rules and tougher federal regulations have delayed the start of local roads projects funded with federal stimulus dollars.
The delays affect some $70 million worth of city and county projects in Nebraska, including $23.2 million worth of projects in the Omaha metro area. The delays could push the start dates for many projects into next year.
Gov. Dave Heineman lashed out Wednesday at federal highway officials for their part in slowing down projects. He blamed the officials for imposing new environmental impact requirements, which require additional documentation.
“Frankly, the Federal Highway Administration is more interested in stimulating paperwork than jobs,” Heineman said. “This federal agency is more concerned about process than about putting Nebraskans to work.”
Nancy Singer, a spokeswoman for the federal roads agency, said officials must ensure that projects meet all regulations while also meeting the job-creation aims of the stimulus package.
“(The agency) will continue to work with (Nebraska) to ensure that state's economic recovery and the delivery of road and bridge projects is as swift as possible,” Singer said.
The other delaying factor is the State Department of Roads' response to a 2007 federal audit.
The audit faulted state officials for lax oversight of local roads projects. In response, the state rewrote its local projects manual and is just now starting to train city and county officials in the new process.
Learning how the new process works has been slow, said Dan Kutilek, Douglas County engineering manager. The process itself also is “very, very time-consuming,” he said.
Bob Stubbe, Omaha Public Works director, said city officials once hoped to start some stimulus projects this summer. Now it looks like it will be later this year for some resurfacing work and next year for other projects.
“We would like to have projects out the door, yes, so it does become somewhat frustrating,” Stubbe said.
The delays have not affected state projects.
Nebraska has $80 million worth of stimulus-funded state roads projects under contract now, with $85 million more in the works.
The governor commented on the delays after announcing that Nebraska will submit five state highway projects for federal grant funding. The projects will be in competition for $1.5 billion worth of grants. The Nebraska submissions would total $280 million.
To be eligible for the grants, projects must — among other requirements — show significant impact on a metropolitan area, a region or the nation.
The five chosen by Nebraska officials and their costs are:
Ÿ Expanding U.S. Highway 75 from two lanes to four from Plattsmouth to Bellevue, including three interchanges in Cass and Sarpy Counties, and construction of four lanes of U.S. Highway 34 to Interstate 29 in Iowa. This includes building a new bridge over the Missouri River, commonly referred to as the Bellevue Bridge. This is a combined project with Iowa. Nebraska cost: about $160 million.
Ÿ Resurfacing I-80 from Roscoe to Paxton in Keith County. Cost: about $40 million.
Ÿ Expanding I-80 from four lanes to six between the 56th Street interchange and the Waverly interchange in Lancaster County. Cost: about $40 million.
Ÿ Expanding Nebraska 133, commonly called Blair High Road, from two lanes to four, from the junction with Nebraska 36 north five miles toward Blair for five miles. Cost: about $20 million.
Ÿ Expanding Nebraska 370 from two lanes to four between Gretna and I-80 in Sarpy County. Cost: about $20 million.
Heineman said the Heartland Expressway, in western Nebraska, was not included because planning for it is behind the other projects. The grant projects must be completed by Feb. 12, 2012.
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
