Construction workers pour and rake fresh concrete Tuesday near 12th and Judson streets. The road work is being paid for by Lincoln On The Move, a program that collected $16.8 million this year to spend on street improvements.
HAYDEN ROONEY, Journal Star
A closed road sign blocks cars from driving on newly renovated North 23rd Street nearly Dudley in Lincoln.
HAYDEN ROONEY, Journal Star
Construction workers pour and rake fresh concrete on Tuesday near North 12th and Judson streets in Lincoln.
HAYDEN ROONEY, Journal Star
Newly poured concrete (left) next to the old concrete on Tuesday near North 23rd and Dudley streets in Lincoln.
HAYDEN ROONEY, Journal Star
A worker rakes fresh concrete on Tuesday near North 12th and Judson streets in Lincoln.
HAYDEN ROONEY, Journal Star
WATCH: Officials discuss the Lincoln On The Move street improvement project. Point your smartphone camera at the QR code, then tap the link.
The potholes are gone in the Clinton neighborhood, the streets smooth around Lincoln High School and Kahoa Elementary School, no swerving necessary to avoid the dips and cracks on residential streets in the Near South.
That’s the word from city officials, who say Lincoln motorists have the quarter-cent sales tax passed by voters three years ago to thank.
In the third year of the program, called Lincoln On The Move, sales tax dollars pumped an additional $16.8 million into street improvements this year — part of a $42 million investment since the program began.
City officials released the annual report Tuesday, which details the revenue generated by the sales tax and the street projects it helped complete.
In total, city officials anticipate the program will generate nearly $94 million before it expires in late 2025.
Whether to ask voters to approve a similar funding source then will likely be an issue for the next mayor.
Since the program began, it has helped fund 40 projects and nearly 114 lane miles of improvements or new streets, the report said.
Over the past three years, the city has invested $167 million in street improvements, about 20% of which comes from sales tax revenue, Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird said.
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“When it comes to the quality of our streets, Lincoln is ahead of the pack,†she said. “Lincoln recently ranked as the sixth-best city to drive in out of 100 cities, bolstering our local economy, public safety and neighborhoods.â€
In the past year, sales tax dollars helped complete 15 projects, including 12 resurfacing projects in residential areas and three new projects — a roundabout near West Holdrege Street, a turn lane near Southwest 14th and West O streets and a stretch of West Holdrege Street in Air Park.
The money helped improve 42 lane miles in the Clinton, College View, Near South, Park Manor and Witherbee neighborhoods, near Kahoa Elementary and Lincoln High, North 14th Street from Adams to Superior streets, North 23rd and Potter streets, Randolph Street between 40th and 56th streets, Westgate Boulevard and West Saunders Avenue.
Sales tax revenue helped pay for 18 projects last year and seven projects in 2020. The number of projects completed depends on the size, city officials said, and sales tax revenue can't be used for some improvements associated with projects such as sidewalks and street markings.
The city has completed 56 street projects over the three-year period, including those paid with sales tax revenue.
In each of the three years, sales tax revenue has exceeded projections, including this year by $3.8 million, when the city projected it would collect $12.9 million and actual revenue was $16.8 million.
The city allocated 73.5% of that revenue to existing street improvements, 25% to new street construction and 1.5% to the project to improve the railroad crossing at 33rd Street and Cornhusker Highway, a project led by the Railroad Transportation Safety District.
The city plans to invest $15.4 million in nine street improvements and one new construction project next year; $31.6 million in the last two years, though projects are still being determined. Because of the timing of the collection of the sales tax, the city anticipates getting about $4 million more at the end of 2025, which will be expended the following year, said Lincoln Transportation and Utilities spokeswoman Erika Hill.
Construction workers pour and rake fresh concrete Tuesday near 12th and Judson streets. The road work is being paid for by Lincoln On The Move, a program that collected $16.8 million this year to spend on street improvements.