Re: News from Omaha
Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 8:45 am
Lerner Building, which has been vacant since 95, is going to get redone including a 3 floor addition. ~40 units with street level retail.
I have been to Omaha Zoo twice, the first time i was impressed by the Jungle, Desert, Aquarium and the Swamp area. We didn't see much else since it was winter and we were blown away by those exhibits. When we went back in Summer we though the other outdoor exhibits were very average to below average. This Africa thing might actually make it a great all around zoo.swid wrote:The one major exhibit type Omaha's zoo doesn't have (but KC's zoo does) will be added:
Henry Doorly Zoo announces $70 million, 28-acre African grasslands exhibit
Very happy to see them looking to add 40+ tec based employees downtown. We needed some good vibes after the MindMixer news and just the other day Pacific Life announced they are leaving their downtown office space for a built to suit project in Aksarben Village.
Omaha World Herald wrote:The federal government is poised to award a $15 million grant to Metro bus system for a major upgrade to mass transit in Omaha.
The grant would help pay for a bus rapid transit line through central Omaha, from Westroads Mall to downtown, with about a dozen stops between.
Metro transit, after a two-year study with the City of Omaha, had applied for an $18.6 million grant from the Transportation Department to help pay for the $31 million project.
The department sent advance notice of a $14.96 million grant award to Congress on Tuesday.
Larry Farnsworth, a spokesman for Rep. Lee Terry, said, “Anytime the federal government can work cooperatively with local governments to meet the transportation needs of its local citizens, Congressman Terry believes it’s a positive thing, and he’s pleased the DOT recognizes the needs of the metro community.”
Metro transit’s top official declined to comment Wednesday. “I haven’t received official notification,” Executive Director Curt Simon said.
Bus rapid transit employs sleek, rubber-wheeled vehicles that run in designated bus lanes.
In April, Metro transit had announced that its study with the city culminated in a recommendation for a combination of bus rapid transit and a streetcar.
The city is working on an agreement with Metro transit to complete the next phase of study for the downtown and midtown transit improvements. The study involves engineering; developing a financial plan for construction and operation; and developing a governance structure.
The Transportation Department money would come from the government’s Transportation Investment Generation Economic Recovery, or TIGER, grant program.
In its grant application, Metro transit says it has the financial capacity to provide the additional funding beyond the $18.6 million it had requested.
Metro transit’s grant application says the line’s connections would include the Old Market, Midtown Crossing, the University of Nebraska Medical Center and its new cancer research center, UNO, Methodist Hospital and Children’s Hospital & Medical Center. The line would be 8 miles long.
According to the federal notice, the project would include eight rapid transit buses and 14 “station pairs” along the route.
City Councilman Chris Jerram said Wednesday that he was hopeful that Omaha would be on the list when TIGER grants are officially announced in the next few days.
“I’m filled with optimism,” Jerram said. “So many people have worked so hard on this in the last two years.”
BRT route shown in first diagram... second is for proposed light rail route, for which federal funding is also being soughtOmaha World Herald wrote:U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx will visit Omaha on Monday to make a "major transportation funding announcement," his department said today.
The press release did not say what the announcement will be. The World-Herald reported Thursday that the U.S. Department of Transportation would award a $15 million grant to Omaha's Metro transit agency for a bus rapid transit line in central Omaha.
Foxx announced Friday that the department will award that grant to Omaha as part of $600 million distributed for projects across the country in the federal government's 2014 TIGER grant program.
The department said Foxx would be joined by Metro Executive Director Curt Simon, Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert, Nebraska Department of Roads Director Randy Peters and Ken Cook, president of Mutual of Omaha's East Campus Realty.
Is this an April Fools Joke