Infrastructure bill is covering most costs of new Lincoln transportation center | The Nebraska Independent
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Photo of StarTran bus running CNG in downtown Lincoln, Nebraska. (Wikimedia Commons)

On March 28, city officials in Lincoln, Nebraska, announced design updates related to the planned construction of a multimodal transportation center that will serve city residents and businesses.

“Public transportation plays a crucial role in growing the great life by supporting economic opportunity and well-being within our community,” Mayor Gaylor Baird said in a statement. “By providing affordable, accessible, and efficient options, our public transportation system helps get people where they need to go – whether that’s work, school, the doctor’s office, or the grocery store.”

The mayor’s office said that construction of the center is expected to be completed in 2027; a contractor will be selected later this year. The cost to build the center is estimated at $32.2 million, and the bulk of those funds will come from the federal government.

Lincoln StarTran, the city’s bus system, announced in 2022 that it had received a grant of $23.6 million for the center. The funds came from the Department of Transportation’s Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant program, which was created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that President Joe Biden signed into law in 2021.

The idea of building a new transportation center was first raised in 2004 after the city conducted a study that concluded the existing bus transfer site was not meeting the needs of Lincoln’s residents. According to the city, the limited room at the existing site has led to longer wait times for passengers and lacks features like an indoor waiting area, restrooms and shelters.

The planned transportation center will have indoor and outdoor waiting areas and provide access to multiple modes of transportation, including buses, scooters, bicycles and pedestrian traffic.

In addition to financing of the project, more than $2.6 billion in funding for other projects has been announced for Nebraska since the passage of the infrastructure bill, according to the White House.

The infrastructure law contains the largest investment in bridge construction and upkeep since the creation of the interstate highway system in the 1950s. So far, $1.4 billion of a projected $2.2 billion over five years has been announced for highway construction projects in Nebraska. The White House said the funds would be used to address the condition of 1,220 bridges and 726 miles of highway in the state that it says are in poor condition.

Nebraska is also receiving federal funding from the law for lead pipe replacement under the Biden administration’s nationwide plan to secure the drinking water supply. Lead exposure can damage vital organs and cause problems with brain development in children.

Past studies of Nebraska’s infrastructure have highlighted the need for significant investment.

A 2021 report card from the American Society of Civil Engineers cataloged some of Nebraska’s infrastructure challenges. The report estimated that vehicle repairs, additional fuel consumption and other issues related to roads in need of repair cost drivers $461 per year. It also noted that dams in the state required repair, describing them as “high-hazard potential,” and that infrastructure funds were needed to maintain schools and to address drinking water needs.

“This deteriorating infrastructure impedes Nebraska’s ability to compete in an increasingly global marketplace. Success in a 21st-century economy requires serious, sustained leadership on infrastructure investment at all levels of government,” the report said.

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