OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Farnam street is a bit of a strange one for Omaha.
For two hours every morning and two hours every evening, the street will switch to one-way traffic.
It's been that way since 1958, but it's something neighbors have wanted to see changed.
“We actually started this safety campaign about 6 years ago it was the fix Farnam campaign. We had yard signs up and down Farnam, we had meetings with the mayor and the city council at that time,” said John Ashford, President of the Dundee Memorial Park Neighborhood Association.
The city's solution to the Farnam problem entails not just changing the flow of traffic but also adding roundabouts to the intersections of 50th and 52nd street.
But that solution is bringing some problems of its own.
“No more traffic lights so our young kids can safely cross the street. A lot of folks in Omaha don’t really know how to navigate roundabouts and we just don’t feel like it's needed,” said Ashford.
Some in the neighborhood would also lose parts of their yards to make room for the roundabouts.
But not everyone thinks the roundabouts are a bad idea.
“I get that the neighbors want to do nothing and have it be two-way all the time but doing nothing isn’t going to stop the speed it's not gonna protect pedestrians,” said Michael Campbell, a resident in the Dundee Memorial Park Neighborhood.
Campbell lives near one of the affected intersections and says that crashes are common.
He understands his neighbors' frustrations but like city officials, believes the roundabouts can serve an important role in keeping the neighborhood safe.
“We have crashes in our yard. They crash on these corners. They aren’t due to the street being straight or a roundabout it's because of excessive speed,” said Campbell.
Monday night the neighborhood held a meeting to discuss the roundabouts.
The neighborhood association wants to see them put on hold and suggests a one-year pilot where Farnam will be two-way all day without roundabouts.
The city says that isn’t an option and city council members attending the meeting said their options to change the plan were limited.
“The only action the city council could take would be to adopt a design contract (and) then pursue the details around that plan, but probably not alter the plan itself,” said City Council President Pete Festersen.
Should the city go through with its plans, construction on the roundabouts is expected to start in 2024.
Download our apps today for all of our latest coverage.
Get the latest news and weather delivered straight to your inbox.
