Omaha crews work to reopen State Street before school starts

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Construction crews are under pressure to complete road projects before the new school year begins.

Rachel Pitzel of Northwest Omaha said, “It’s been a huge pain in the butt actually.”

Pitzel is talking about construction along State Street, a major link to Blair High Road and Interstate 680.

Her sentiment is also felt by others in the area.

Tammy Rogokos of Northwest Omaha said, “State’s been torn up in a lot of different locations along State, which means rerouting to other areas.”

Now the race is on to reopen the roads before schools reopen their doors.

For Omaha and Bennington Public Schools and Blair Community High School, that’s August 14th.

Rogokos said, “I think it’s going to be a lot worse. Traffic is already congested up here, so I think it’s going to make it more difficult especially for families that have to get kids to school.”

Douglas County Engineer Todd Pfitzer understands their concern.

Pfitzer said, “We appreciate everyone’s patience and consideration, and we do understand when you’re trying to get to work or pick up your kids or whatever. When all this construction is going on it can be frustrating.”

Pfitzer said State Street from 114th to Blair High Road is on schedule to reopen by mid-August, though he stopped short of giving an exact date. “This is just the peak time of the year, end of July, early August, for finishing all that stuff up. So once school starts, a lot of those activities go away,” he said.

However, as is often the case with road construction, there’s more. State Street is also expanding east to Irvington Road. Though it is a short stretch of road, it is a major link to Metropolitan Community College’s Technical Center.”

M.U.D heads that project. The completion date is unknown.

Pfitzer says the overall goal is to turn State Street into a major suburban artery ahead of rapid growth between Bennington and Omaha.

Pfitzer said, “It’s the fastest-growing part of our county. I mean everything is going on in Northwest Douglas County. So, it is definitely a challenging area.”

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