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Bikers and hikers are getting closer to their dream of an unbroken 50-mile trail between Nebraska’s two largest cities.
Last week, officials from Cass County and the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District decided to work together to complete a recreational trail between Omaha and Lincoln.
The question before them: What is the best route to link the MoPac East Trail out of Lincoln with a trail out of Omaha that ends at the Lied Platte River Bridge near South Bend?
The two entities’ efforts may already be bearing fruit.
Cass County Board member Jim Peterson said board members have proposed that the connecting route start in Elmwood and continue north on Nebraska Highway 1 to Murdock. The trail would follow 310th Street to Nebraska Highway 66 and into South Bend, where it would connect with the Lied Platte River Bridge.
“We think it will be the safest environment for the trail users,” Peterson said. “It would also benefit the lifestyle opportunities of the people who live in the towns along the way.”
Glenn Johnson, general manager of the NRD, said a meeting will be scheduled with the Nebraska Department of Roads to review the route before further steps are taken.
“The advantage to this route would be that we would not have to acquire the right of way,” Johnson said.
The disadvantage, he said, would be in not being able to change the grade of the road or its route.
MoPac stands for the abandoned Missouri Pacific railroad line that much of the trail follows. The trail has been in the works since the mid-1980s.
A significant step forward in the project came last week when the Cass County Board and the NRD both unanimously agreed to sign a memorandum to jointly identify potential routes that could connect the two bike-hike trails.
The Cass County Board agreed to lead the public presentation of the route, and the NRD will oversee technical aspects of the trail.
A goal is to find the best route by July. Even then, completion of the connecting route could take five or six more years, Johnson said.
The NRD began working more closely with the Cass County Board after encountering serious opposition to its own proposed route last year.
The NRD had proposed using eminent domain to secure a route along 334th Street, a county road. Eminent domain is the power of a government body to seize private property, then compensate the property owner.
Nearly 30 landowners opposed the route. The landowners then succeeded in having a bill introduced in the Legislature to vastly restrict the powers of eminent domain for the state’s 23 natural resource districts. The trail route proposal was withdrawn and so was the legislation.
“We have been working since then on an alternative (route) that is more doable,” Johnson said. “The County Board thinks it can include additional economic development between the trail and communities along the way that would help gain acceptance.”
Peterson said many of the landowners were upset by the threat of eminent domain.
“The talk of eminent domain made for a lot of friction between the NRD and the citizens,” Johnson said. “I believe this route proposal is a win-win situation for everyone in eastern Nebraska.”
Contact the writer:
444-1272, kevin.cole@owh.com
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