Lancaster County engineering outlines 2026–27 road and bridge program, warns of supply-chain and inflation pressures

Lancaster County Engineer Pam Dingman presented the county—s proposed one- and six-year road and bridge construction program for fiscal years 2026–2031 to the Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Commission on Sept. 3 and outlined persistent supply-chain delays, construction inflation and a growing backlog of culvert and bridge maintenance needs. The commission approved Comprehensive Plan Conformance 25008 by a 7-0 roll-call vote.

Dingman said Lancaster County—s maintenance inventory includes 289 bridges, roughly 6,900 pipe culverts, 1,000 box culverts and about 1,400 centerline miles of road. She told commissioners that supply-chain issues have delayed delivery of heavy equipment — including snowplows and dump trucks — for more than two years and that long lead times for parts (often 8 to 12 weeks or more) are creating operational resiliency problems.

On construction costs, Dingman said the county is still facing the legacy of large inflation since 2020: "If we call 2020 our zero point, inflation would be about 40% over that time period in particular for construction," she said, and current projections could push 2030 costs to about 50% above 2020 levels.

Dingman reported progress on scour-critical bridges (erosion around bridge foundations), noting the county—s critical list fell from 58 sites after the 2019 storm to 27 currently. She described a single bridge that has been closed since last summer because beam embedment into the soil had been compromised; she said that bridge posed a clear public-safety risk and remained closed to traffic.

Highlighted capital projects and funding notes included: - Bridge F201 (federal-aid project, near Arbor Road/N. 27th Street) intended for long-term replacement; - Bridge G222 (near 90th & 8th Street north of Highway 6) — a major project Dingman listed at roughly $3,000,000 (the department is funding that work as its single capital improvement allocation in the year shown); - Saltillo Road (27th to 68th Street) — a federal-aid project the county estimates could reach roughly $12,000,000 and is the largest engineering project the county has planned; - An inventory of 12 federal-aid projects totaling about $70,000,000 that Dingman said will materially expand paving and safety investments across the county over the coming five to six years.

Dingman also detailed corridor paving and safety projects (90th Street, 98th Street, North 160th Street segments, North and South 60th Street corridor projects), described HUD economic-development earmarks (including a roughly $4,000,000 earmark tied to a project and a $5,300,000 earmark for North 160th Street), and said the county is pursuing additional federal grants and MPO funding. She noted a HUD economic-development grant agreement took more than two years to finalize and warned that procurement and agreement timelines can be lengthy.

On pavement maintenance, Dingman said Lancaster County reduced the number of pavement miles rated below condition thresholds from roughly 100 to about 35 through aggressive maintenance and by securing federal aid for new paving projects.

"We are the largest county program in the state of Nebraska by quite a ways," Dingman told the commission, and she recommended continued emphasis on federal-aid pursuit and targeted local investment. She also said the county is acquiring right-of-way for the Lincoln East Beltway and hopes to begin preliminary corridor design or NEPA work as funding and opportunities allow.

A representative of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, Katie Bulmaier, testified in support and thanked Dingman for the department—s leadership; no opposition testimony was recorded.

Following a motion to approve Comprehensive Plan Conformance 25008 (mover not specified; seconded by Commissioner Edens) the commission approved the item by unanimous roll call. Dingman said project phasing, funding and long lead times make consistent funding and grant pursuit central to delivering the program.