OMAHA — In September, Omaha’s first protected bikeway was rolling toward its final days. Then the Sherwood Foundation hit the brakes.
A donation from the Susie Buffett-backed Sherwood Foundation reversed the course set a week before, when Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert announced that the Harney Street bikeway wouldn’t continue beyond its 18-month pilot program.
Stothert said Sept. 29 that a private donor had come forward to provide funding to maintain the protected bikeway until construction of the city’s streetcar system begins on Harney Street. In the meantime, the bikeway will be restriped, and new bollards and delineators will be installed.
It’s unclear when conversations of extending the pilot program began between the Mayor’s Office and Sherwood Foundation, but an email was sent Sept. 28 from a representative of the foundation to city officials and members of the advisory committee of Metro Smart Cities, which is made up of city officials and community partners.
“As the funder of the pilot, we would love to see an extension of the pilot (at least until work on the streetcar actually starts) and ultimately a permanent protected bike lane,†wrote Kerri Sanchez, the Sherwood Foundation’s director of urban initiatives. “We believe by learning from other cities with similar climates and issues, we can make this pilot work long term.â€
The Sherwood Foundation would be “happy to pay for an extension,†including additional costs such as snow removal or moving the lane to the north side of Harney Street, Sanchez wrote in the email.
Known as the Market to Midtown Bikeway, the protected bike lane was established through a pilot program that began in July 2021 and ended Sept. 30. The two-way, 2-mile lane runs along Harney Street from 10th Street to Turner Boulevard. The bike lane is set between the curb and parallel parking spaces with bollards providing a barrier from the vehicles.
Stothert has said that the cost of maintaining the bike lane over a three-year period could exceed $250,000.
The foundation agreed to fund maintenance costs and the cost for the study and conceptual design, according to the Mayor’s Office.
The Sherwood Foundation didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry from the World-Herald after the announcement that the bike lane would remain in place.
Metro Smart Cities created a maintenance cost estimate for the rest of 2022 through 2025, plus study and design. They concluded that about $600,000 would be needed.
The original decision to end the pilot program was finalized during a Metro Smart Cities meeting Sept. 21, which was not open to the public.
Since its founding in 2016, Metro Smart Cities has brought together city officials from the metro area with leaders of local businesses, nonprofits, educational institutions and community members to develop and implement pilot projects to solve mobility and accessibility challenges in the Omaha metro area.
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The group did not hold a vote to decide if the bikeway pilot would be extended, but Stothert said no concerns or objections were raised at the time.
Stothert declined to share with the World-Herald a list of those in attendance, noting the meeting was private.
A spokesperson with the Mayor’s Office said there was no sign-in sheet for the meeting “so there is not a record of who attended in person and/or by Zoom.â€
Sanchez’s email to the Metro Smart Cities’ advisory committee was in response to an email from Stephen Osberg, senior director of transportation and urban development with the Greater Omaha Chamber.
In his email, Osberg advocated for a protected bikeway as a safety feature for cyclists along the streetcar route.
“The limited research out there seems to reinforce the point I raised during the meeting,†Osberg wrote. “Regardless of what we do in the short term, we ought to do our best to install a permanent protected bikeway on Harney Street with construction of the streetcar.â€
Last month, the Omaha Streetcar Authority approved a route concept for the streetcar. A portion of the route would see streetcars running east along Harney Street.
Stothert cited issues in Seattle where cyclists have been injured or killed after bike tires got stuck in streetcar tracks. Those incidents have led to a number of lawsuits brought against the city, she said.
Osberg in his email contended that “Seattle cites protected bikeways on streetcar routes as a remedy to the problem, not as the problem itself.â€
In a letter to City Council members sent after the Metro Smart Cities meeting, the mayor credited the Harney Street pilot program with providing enough data for an evaluation and “future decisions about protected bikeways in our urban core.†The evaluation would include consideration of Harney Street and other east-west streets for locating a permanent protected bikeway.
“I remain 100% committed to dedicated protected bikeways, and I am grateful to the donor making this possible,†Stothert said in a statement.
Mark Durante rides in the protected bike lane on Harney Street after it opened in July 2021. Thanks to a donation from the Sherwood Foundation, the bikeway will be maintained until construction of the streetcar system begins on Harney.