Douglas County presents 1‑ and 6‑year highway plan; engineer highlights roundabouts, Safe Streets and SID coordination

Todd Fitzsir, Douglas County Engineer, presented the county's 1‑ and 6‑year highway improvement plan at the Board of Commissioners meeting on Aug. 19 and described ongoing 2025 projects and priorities for 2026 and later years.

Fitzsir said the county is coordinating with regional initiatives including MAPPA's Safe Streets for All program and the City of Omaha's Vision Zero plan to prioritize safety projects in the metro area and to pursue federal funding where eligible. He used the proposed Bennington High School access as an example: the county worked with Bennington School District and the City of Omaha to redesign an intersection as a roundabout at 170th and Military instead of a standard T intersection to improve safety near the school.

The engineer summarized several ongoing projects: construction work on West Q Street and the final piece of Fourth Street west to Highway 200, widening and signal projects at 160th & Eighth/Ida, Rainwood Road extension west of 156th, and Harrison Street paving near 220th. Fitzsir said some projects were accelerated where SIDs are contributing funding and that coordination with utility providers (OPPD, MUD) has caused some delays in segments such as West Q.

Fitzsir discussed roundabout design and maintenance tradeoffs. He noted roundabouts tend to reduce the most severe crash types — T‑bone or angle crashes — but create new maintenance challenges for snow removal and truck turning clearance. Staff have adopted design changes such as full‑depth concrete truck aprons on inner curbs to extend durability and to make plowing and truck traffic more manageable.

Commissioners asked about interjurisdictional coordination (Sarpy County and the City of Omaha), timelines for additional roundabouts on Q Street and whether truck traffic can be restricted; Fitzsir said Q Street is legally a truck route and cannot be restricted, although roundabouts can create a practical deterrent. He said some projects depend on SID funding, and that additional roundabouts west of current work are contingent on SID readiness.

Fitzsir encouraged residents with questions to call the County Engineer's Office and said project maps and schedules are available in the plan documents. The board did not take final action on the 1‑ and 6‑year plan at the meeting; County Attorney staff recommended closing the public hearing and returning for action at the next scheduled meeting per statutory timing.