North Omaha 24th Street Corridor Gets Millions to Launch Streetscape Project
OMAHA. The North Omaha Streetscape Project kicked off Friday, costing about $9 million to help improve the area’s main commercial corridor, a historically redlined and under-investment section of the city.
Improvements planned along the North 24th Street business district, 2.3 miles approximately from Meredith Avenue to Cuming Street, require improved sidewalks, traffic, landscaping, parking, and transportation options.
LaVonia Goodwin, chief executive of nonprofit North 24th Street BID, called the start of the first phase of the larger $53 million plan “monumental.”
The 24th Street area of North Omaha and Lake Street, looking south. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)
“It will take community engagement and the continued support of our elected officials to fully fund and deliver this transformative project that will accelerate the restoration of North 24th Street to a prosperous place,” said Goodwin of Goodwin’s Spencer Street Barbershop.
The statement outlined the first wave of funds. US Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb, received $7 million in federal appropriations. The city of Omaha must contribute $1.2 million. The City Planning Agency announced a $750,000 grant fund for street safety through the Bipartisan Infrastructure and Investment Act.
North 24th Street and Lake Street looking northeast. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)
Bacon, Omaha Mayor Gene Stothert, and MAPA’s Mike Helgerson were at the fundraising event.
“The construction of the North 24th Street Corridor will serve as a catalyst for economic and cultural renewal—an initiative that can transform society and people’s lives,” Bacon said.
“North 24th Street is once again gaining momentum as a place of innovation, entrepreneurship and urban life,” Stothert said in a statement.
The plan is expected to attract more businesses and patrons to the area, Goodwin said. Particular attention should be given to widening sidewalks in the North 24th and Lake Streets Historic District to encourage pedestrian traffic.
