Pedestrian Infrastructure in Jeopardy

The City of Omaha scheduled the pedestrian activated crossing signals at six intersections to be removed within 90 days of notification. The residents of Dundee fought the removal of two of those signals that serve walking routes to Dundee elementary, and yesterday, the Mayor indicated that the signals at 51st and Farnam and at 52nd and Chicago warranted further study because of their proximity to a school.

There are four other signals scheduled for removal as a part of the city’s multi-year, $35 million traffic signal upgrade being majority funded by the Federal Department of Transportation. According to statements made by Public Works, these signals do not meet federal standards as laid out in the Manual for Universal Traffic Control Devices, and so their replacement would be ineligible for federal funding. Public works has not yet responded to requests for copies of the full traffic study or a description of the study methodology.

The traffic signals still scheduled for removal are the following:

120th and Arbor
108th and Oak
84th and Spring (see our video analysis of this intersection here)
73rd and Mercy

If you use these signals, or know someone for whom these signals are important for pedestrian access to work, commerce, services and community amenities, please contact Public Works at 402-444-5160 and/or email Mr. Murthy Koti at murthy.koti@cityofomaha.org and Mayor Stothert at mayorstothert@cityofomaha.org.