Regional News
Heineman says progress coming on Heartland Expressway
Published Monday, June 29, 2009 at 09:44 AM
Heineman...accused by many of paying only lip service to the proposed 4-lane north-south highway across the Panhandle...feels great progress was made in moving beyond past disputes at a recent meeting in Lincoln.
The governor says the next step will a meeting in the Panhandle with state , local and federal officials where he hopes a concensus can be reached on the makeup of the Expressway, proposed as part of a 4-lane highway from Canada to Mexico.
Regional leaders, especially those in the northern Panhandle, now want a commitment for the entire route to be 4 lanes just as South Dakota's will be from the state line to Rapid City. The original proposal called for simply a "Super-2" between Chadron and Alliance to widen traffic lanes and have more frequent passing lanes.
Governor Heineman isn't ready to commit to the total four lane proposal, but says he is ready to work on reaching an agreement on an even harder step: getting the Expressway funded.
The Heartland Expressway's long-awaited Kimball By-Pass is currently under construction and should be in use sometime next year, and a widening to 4-lanes of Highway 385 from around Angora to the Morrill-Box Butte County line is scheduled to start next year.
The state decided against submitting any Heartland Expressway projects for a new stimulus program because none could be started and completed within the time frame required for that program.
© 2008 The Nebraska Rural Radio Association. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Nebraska Headlines from AP
- Information:
- Weather
- |
- Markets
- |
- Tours
- |
- Promotions
- |
- Events
- |
- Funeral Notices
- |
- Photos
- © 2008 Rural Radio Network. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.