Senate committee hears push for $15 million to restart East Beltway work in Lincoln

Senator Beau Ballard, the bill's introducer, told the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee that LB619 would appropriate $15,000,000 to help cities of the primary class and their counties carry out work that connects state and national highways as part of the planned East Beltway around Lincoln.

The appropriation would pay for preparatory planning and infrastructure work that supporters said is required to pursue federal grants and complete environmental and design updates. "The East Beltway is a crucial investment in the future of Lincoln's transportation and the broader economic growth of Southeast Nebraska and Nebraska as a whole," Ballard said.

The bill drew unified support from local engineers, planning staff and business groups who described decades of prior planning and corridor protection but said new funding is required to move the project to construction. Pam Dingman, Lancaster County engineer, told the panel the corridor was first defined in an interlocal agreement in 1995 and that the Federal Highway Administration approved a final study in 2002. Dingman said Lancaster County and the City of Lincoln have purchased several tracts of right of way and that county traffic studies show 140th & Eighth Street would need a four‑lane upgrade by 2040 without the beltway. "Passing LB619 would help move the East Beltway forward for future generations," Dingman said.

David Carey, director of the Lincoln–Lancaster County Planning Department, said the East Beltway alignment has formal corridor protection status and is shown in decades of local planning documents. Carey said the alignment would connect Interstate 80 near Waverly on the north to Highway 2 at the south interchange with the South Beltway. He said additional funding would help secure federal matching grants and keep design steps current.

Business and civic groups told the committee the project supports regional mobility and economic growth. Bruce Boyer, lobbyist for the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, and Carter Thiel of the Lincoln Independent Business Association each said state investment would leverage local work and improve safety and freight movement.

Committee members asked technical questions about the alignment, what would happen to 140th & Eighth Street, and whether the appropriation would be a direct grant to the Department of Transportation. Ballard said the $15 million in LB619 is a direct appropriation intended largely to "dust off" environmental and preliminary engineering work so the project can be competitive for federal construction grants. He said the measure is not a local match requirement but that the city and county have contributed matching funds to past grants.

No opponents testified at the hearing and committee members did not take any formal vote during this session. The bill will proceed according to committee procedure and future appropriations deliberations.

While supporters emphasized existing planning and corridor protection, they also acknowledged the cost escalation since the 1990s and the need to update studies and design standards. The bill's sponsor and local officials said LB619 is intended to preserve long‑standing plans and position the project to pursue federal funding opportunities in the future.