LINCOLN- State lawmakers have been informed that the long-delayed state expressway system that was expected to be completed in 2003 will actually be around 2036. This is actually good news according to John Selmer, the director of the Nebraska Department of Transportation, because last year the expected finish date was 2040.

The expressway project was designed to link Nebraska communities larger than 15,000 people to an Interstate with a four-lane, divided expressway. Selmer said in total, about 70% of the highway is completed, but the remaining 30% has a $800 million dollar price tag. Selmer assured lawmakers that time is needed as this is the largest project the NDOT has ever undertaken.

In 2019, the Nebraska Legislature passed a bill that allowed the state to pay off the cost of the Lincoln South Beltway project over eight years, rather than all at once — a financing mechanism which State Sen. Mike Moser of Columbus compared to bonding, which the state does not use.

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