LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Two years after Nebraska lawmakers approved a controversial road funding bill, state officials are starting work on long-delayed projects around Omaha, Kearney and Blair.
The state Department of Roads has six projects that are either underway or scheduled to start within the next year, and nearly a dozen more through the year 2023. Department spokeswoman Mary Jo Oie says officials had delayed work on several of the projects because they lacked funding.
The 2011 law by then-state Sen. Deb Fischer adds about $70 million a year for state highway construction projects. It dedicates one-quarter of a cent out of Nebraska's 5½-cent sales tax for state road upgrades, as well as maintenance for counties and cities.
The department has 17 projects planned around Nebraska cities over the next decade.
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