City of Omaha is building stronger bridges on Farnam, Harney to hold heavy streetcars
The City of Omaha plans to tear down two bridges over Interstate 480 and build sturdier ones that can handle the massive weight of its future streetcars.
Early next year, contractors will begin taking down the Harney Street bridge that spans I-480 and replacing it with a new, stronger bridge. The process will take about a year, said Austin Rowser, Omaha's deputy public works director.
Once the Harney Street bridge is complete, demolition will start on the bridge at Farnam Street, one block to the north, in early 2026. That project, too, will last about a year. Both bridges were originally built more than 60 years ago but hadn't been planned for replacement this soon.
The city and the Nebraska Department of Transportation will share the cost of the rebuilt I-480 overpasses. The city will pay about $15 million with streetcar bond revenue, and the state will pay the remaining $7 million, city officials estimated in June. Bids have been solicited and are due Nov. 6, Rowser said.
The streetcar route will stretch over 3 miles between the Blackstone District and the Missouri River, from Eighth Street to 39th Street, and also run along 10th Street from Harney Street to Capitol Avenue near the CHI Health Center. The route crosses a third bridge — on 10th Street between Douglas and Farnam Streets over the Gene Leahy Mall — that already is strong enough to support the streetcar, Rowser said.
The new streetcars will weigh about 90,000 pounds — 45 tons — because of the large batteries they must carry, Rowser said. By comparison, the Omaha Public Works Department's heaviest vehicle, a tandem-axle dump truck, is 30 tons. Passenger cars and trucks average about 2 tons , according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
"Streetcars are very heavy," Rowser said.
The existing Farnam and Harney bridges were built in 1963 when the I-480 freeway was new, and they received new bridge decks in 1993 (Farnam) and 1995 (Harney), said Barbara Gerbino-Bevins, district traffic engineer for the Nebraska Department of Transportation.
The new bridges will have stronger upright piers supporting a bulkier substructure beneath the bridge deck than the current spans, Rowser said.
The streetcar line and motor vehicle traffic will share three lanes on the new bridges, which also will have sidewalks on both sides. They will have ornamental street lighting that matches the rest of the streetcar route.
The Harney Street bridge is currently one way eastbound and Farnam Street one way westbound. That will remain the same. The streetcars also will run in the same directions.
Normally, the Transportation Department is responsible for maintaining and rebuilding bridges.
The department hadn't planned to replace the Farnam and Harney bridges for another 25 to 30 years, Gerbino-Bevins said. So the city asked that the project be moved up, with Omaha sharing the reconstruction costs using funds generated by the streetcar-related development.
The city estimates the total cost of the streetcar project at $459 million, with about $70 million for relocation of utilities and sewers and reconstruction of bridges shouldered by other agencies. It is using tax-increment financing to pay its share of the costs out of property taxes generated by new development projects along the streetcar route.
Omaha's Finance Department has projected at least $3.9 billion in new development in the area over the next 15 years, generating an estimated $940 million in new tax revenue for the city.
Mayor Jean Stothert said that is more than enough to cover the cost of the streetcar.
"It remains easily within our range," she said in June. "Taxpayers will not pay for the streetcar, there will not be a tax increase, and the streetcar will not put the city in debt."
; twitter.com/Steve Liewer
