South Beltway Receives Federal Grant

The Lincoln Chamber of Commerce (www.lcoc.com) places infrastructure funding as a top priority.

Completing the Lincoln South Beltway has been an area of particular focus for the Chamber’s advocacy efforts. This project will not only create jobs and continue our strong economic growth…but it will also increase safety on Highway 2 by taking a large share of heavy truck traffic off the road and diverting it to the beltway.

This is why we are thrilled that the Lincoln South Beltway project will receive a $25 million federal grant to assist in the funding of the project. The grant is being awarded through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program.

The proposed South Beltway project would construct a new 11-mile east-west freeway south of the City of Lincoln, located between U.S. Highway 77 on the west and Nebraska Highway 2 on the east, and generally located 0.5 miles south of Saltillo Road. The purpose of the Lincoln South Beltway is to improve east-west connectivity for regional and interstate travel through Nebraska and to improve safety and reduce conflicts between local and through traffic, including heavy truck traffic, in Lincoln.

The Lincoln South Beltway is one of the largest transportation undertakings for the State of Nebraska at an estimated cost of $300 million. The Chamber worked with state officials to secure funds from the Build Nebraska Act, with contributions from the City of Lincoln and Lancaster County.

When we received the call from Nebraska Department of Transportation asking us to lead the effort to gather backing from Lincoln business groups we knew how important it was to show substantial business community support. It was gratifying to witness such a strong response. Even so, we knew competition for the TIGER grant was going to be very steep. Receiving the $25 million grant confirms the quality and economic potential of the South Beltway – a point the Lincoln Chamber has consistently made.

Infrastructure investment and job growth go hand-in-hand. More investment means more room for our economy to grow.


Lincoln Chamber of Commerce - Joining Organizations LogoThe Chamber’s mission is to improve the lives of Lincoln residents by providing increased economic opportunity and can only be accomplished together. For more information on the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, (www.lcoc.com) please contact Jaime Henning at jaimehenning@lcoc.com.