OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Dirt is officially being moved and graded on the development off of 180th and Maple Streets where Omaha's newest Costco is expected to be built. But traffic is a concern for some neighbors.
Some residents say they are excited about the new business, while others have expressed concern about one of the main entrances being right off of their street.
"We look forward to being able to walk there and get hot dogs cause they sell more hot dogs than anyone in the country," said Bill Citro, a resident in the area, for the last 8 years.
Citro says he is excited to have the Costco, but hears the concerns in the next neighborhood over.
"The only one thing that we heard was, there is supposed to be an exit out into that neighborhood, the next neighborhood over, Andresen Meadows. And that was a concern," Citro said.
As the plan stands, there is an entrance off of Emmet and 178th Streets.
"I recall a lot of the concerns with the Costco development, and others, being cut through trips," said Jeff Riesselman, City of Omaha traffic engineer.
Riesselman said they have completed the required traffic study.
"That traffic study focuses mostly on (the) capacity of the surrounding road network and considers the amount of new trips that will be put onto the network because of the development," Riesselman said.
This helps to determine traffic impacts at surrounding intersections. He said with developments like Costco, most drivers will come from main roads like Maple.
"It is our experience that the cut-through trips are very minimal. In fact, the only folks that are utilizing the local streets are people that already live in the neighborhood," Riesselman said.
Riesselman said the entrance off of Emmet Street will likely be the back of the Costco.
"It's a collector road that is on the north side of the neighborhood and we have looked at those capacity numbers that show it would operate fine," Riesselman said.
One thing neighbors can expect is a new traffic signal will likely go up at 180th and Emmet Streets.
Costco isn't the only development in the area. The Douglas County Assessor's website shows Fleet Farm currently owns a piece of land nearby, near 182nd and Emmet.
There is no word on whether they're building any time soon.
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