Bellevue officials have given their blessing to an effort to create pedestrian and bicycle trails by removing the outer lanes of Fort Crook Road.
The proposal comes from the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency, a coalition of governments from the five-county area that helps coordinate development and planning activities.
The agency had $2 million in funds available for nonconstruction projects, which could include changing road striping.
MAPA plans for the Fort Crook Road trail to eventually connect Omaha's trials to Bellevue at Harrison Street and to Offutt Air Force Base via Capehart Road. The result would be a system of continuous trails from Offutt to the CenturyLink Center and TD Ameritrade Park in downtown Omaha.
"I think that we have an opportunity here," Bellevue Councilwoman Kathy Saniuk said before voting to proceed with securing funds for the project. "I think we have an opportunity here that doesn't come about very often."
Megan Lucas, president and CEO of the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce, said the trail proposal is a way to accomplish something the city has wanted. "Fort Crook Road will never have the traffic it used to have," Lucas said. "These sorts of trails are found all across the country."
The project was proposed after MAPA had a project fall through that it had already been earmarked for federal grant money. The Bellevue City Council voted unanimously in December to participate in the project, provided that the Bellevue chamber helps with the local dollars required by the grant.
The $86,000 needed from local sources will be split, with $40,000 coming from the city and $46,000 from private sources. Beardmore Chevrolet-Subaru already donated $4,000 to support the trail proposal.
The Fort Crook Road corridor has suffered from declining importance since the opening of the Kennedy Freeway and the loss of the former Southroads Mall. The city and chamber came together in 2008 to begin work on plans to revitalize the corridor, to make Fort Crook Road into the city's destination corridor for growth.
The redevelopment plan envisions Fort Crook Road as an urban, pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use area with a balance of housing and appropriate commercial projects.
Officials said the trial will provide one more example of progress along the corridor.
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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
