OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — The Dundee Memorial Park Association has been working toward a 24-hour a-day, two-way street on Farnam for nearly six years now. The city has decided to go through with it, but roundabouts will be added as well — something the neighborhood association finds unnecessary.
After reviewing crash data and asking for residents' input, the city said the best way to improve safety on Farnam Street is to make it two-way all the time and add roundabouts.
This would remove the current stop lights on Farnam at 52nd and 50th Streets. Instead, drivers would use single-lane roundabouts.
"It is going to safely handle traffic. It will be slightly more congested than the signals would be. It is going to slow the traffic and that's what we are recommending now as a next step for this," said Todd Pfitzer with Omaha Public Works.
Currently, Farnam becomes a one-way road during rush hours in the mornings and evenings but that has led to crashes.
With the addition of the roundabouts, Pfitzer said traffic will be slowed down.
"We could get more traffic through with signals but with 50% of the crashes being from red light running, that's not going to solve our crash problem. The roundabouts will solve the crash problem even though it might mean slightly slower traffic," Pfitzer said.
What's the expected cost?
"We have $2.1 million in the [Capital Improvement Program] identified to pay for these improvements for this corridor," Pfitzer said.
Installing roundabouts will shut down areas of Farnam.
The changes to the roads are welcomed by the neighborhood association but in a statement, the Dundee Memorial Park Association said they are disappointed they couldn't show the city they could change to a two-way road without having construction.
But the city found this to be the only way.
"We can't just take the signals out, because there is too much traffic that would not work, so then that kind of limits the number of options we have," Pfitzer said.
The construction plan still needs to be approved by city council. If it does, construction and the two-way change will likely start in 2024.
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