BEATRICE, Nebraska — A federal grant is expected to turn a long-discussed project to enhance downtown Beatrice into a reality.

The city recently was named a recipient of a $21.4 million grant from the federal infrastructure bill, which will be used to reroute U.S. Highway 136 one block south, around the downtown core, to make that area more pedestrian- and festival-friendly.

An official with the Main Street Beatrice program, which is leading redevelopment efforts, said that moving semi-truck traffic off the east-west highway, known as Court Street, in the center of downtown will allow the community to string holiday lights, install public art, benches and landscaping, and more easily shut off the street for festivals and events.

“It opens up a world of opportunities,” said Morgan Fox, executive director of Main Street Beatrice.

Tobias Tempelmeyer, Beatrice’s city manager, echoed that sentiment.

“It’s a very transformative project for us,” he said.

The grant money is coming from the federal Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity program, or RAISE, which is part of the bipartisan infrastructure program passed under President Joe Biden. 

The RAISE program has granted more than $7.2 billion to about 550 projects across the country, including one other in Nebraska. 

That is a $750,000 grant to Lincoln County to study alternative routes for freight traffic and improvements for pedestrians and bicyclists’ infrastructure, and support the ongoing development of the Nebraska International Port of the Plains, which is being developed near North Platte.

In Beatrice, rerouting Highway 136 has been discussed for several years, but it always included concerns about how to finance such a project, as well as questions about whether rerouting the east-west highway along Market Street, one block to the south, might harm restaurants, bars and others businesses along Court Street.

The city already has designated truck routes around Court Street, but the routes are voluntary, and few truckers traveling east-west used them, according to Tempelmeyer.

Gov. Jim Pillen, in a recent press release, congratulated Beatrice on obtaining the grant funds, noting the assistance from the Nebraska Department of Transportation.

“I’m proud that Beatrice leaned into this opportunity and appreciate NDOT’s efforts to support them in making the project a reality. It’s a big win for Nebraska,” said Pillen, who has called for increasing use of federal grant funds.

The $21 million grant will be used to redesign and reconstruct the highway and to add pedestrian and cyclist safety features, the press release said.

Tempelmeyer said a formal vote to accept the federal grant will be taken by the Beatrice City Council in the next couple of months. 

After that, he said, the city will hire an engineering firm to design the approximately six block rerouting. It will be at least two years, Tempelmeyer estimated, before work to reroute the highway and to beautify Court Street will begin.

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – Every year, a Fourth of July celebration sweeps over the entire city of Seward, which is considered a national and even international destination during the holiday.

A whole year of planning goes into upholding old traditions and creating new ones.

“It takes a village to put on this celebration,” Clark Kolterman, the chair of the Seward 4th of July Celebration Committee, said.

The celebration is also a boon for Nebraska businesses.

“We just love the atmosphere here,” Linda Whited, a crafter from Omaha, said. “It’s really nice. And we do sell a lot of things.”

Around 200 vendors—peddling everything from clothes to crochet animals—lined the Seward County Courthouse lawn, which meant a lot of money changing hands.

“My husband and I are crafters; we run a business,” Culleen Bauer, who helps put on the craft show, said. “We depend on this show to bring this 100,000 people into town to keep our small business going.”

The day featured a host of events, including the time-honored apple pie eating contest and a massive parade.

Pie eating champion Brian Coffin, from Kansas, has made Seward his Independence Day destination for more than three decades now. People came from as far as South Korea and Australia, according to Kolterman, and he said he’s glad to see the festival grow into what it did.

“It’s our identity,” Kolterman said. “You know, Wilber is the Czech Capital. Ogallala is the Cowboy Capital. Lincoln is the Star City. Seward was looking for an identity.”

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NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) – For our Thursday, July 4, highs will be near 80 with mostly clear skies throughout the day and evening hours for some fireworks.

Friday we will be sunny with highs in the lower 80s, which is a little cool for this time of year as average highs are approaching 90Saturday there is a chance of rain/thunderstorms in the morning and then sunny skies in the afternoon. Then the chance of rain/thunderstorms returns for the night, highs near 80.

Sunday a chance of rain/thunderstorms throughout the afternoon, highs near 77 to finish the weekend.

Monday and Tuesday also bring mostly sunny skies as the dry pattern continues. Temperatures continue to rise to start next week, as we will be in the mid- to upper 80s. Wednesday sunny skies and highs in the upper 80s. Next Thursday sunny skies and highs near 89.

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