It's an issue Omaha Public Works Dept. has been discussing for years, how to fix unimproved roads. Recently a couple of neighborhoods have gotten the city to promise to pay for half of the repairs, so now the council wants a uniform plan.
The Public Works Department will go in front of the Omaha City Council on Tuesday afternoon to talk about unimproved roads.
They say there are about 350 miles of these neighborhood streets, alleys, and arterial roads.
Unimproved streets were most times asphalt roads put in by developers decades ago before they were supposed to be built up to city standard. They now have to install concrete roads with drainage.
Since they're not up to code the city doesn't normally maintain them, and now most are beyond repair.
Omaha Public Works says there's no funding source to pay to replace them, and citizens that live on the streets would likely have to share the cost.
"I think it's safe to say we're going to be over $250 million for the alleys, and the neighborhood streets were talking about. Some of the other streets are already programmed into the budgeting and CIP,” said Todd Pfitzer, Engineer with the Omaha Public Works Dept.
Almost all councilmembers have said they have streets in their districts in dire need of repair.
No decisions will be made on Tuesday, but they expect to discuss the number of unimproved roads, how to pay to improve them, and who will pay. It’s unclear if neighborhoods will have to form a street improvement district if they want their road fixed.
