Omaha Metro complete North Omaha Transit Center renovation

Omaha Metro Transit’s (Omaha Metro) North Omaha Transit Center (NOTC) has reopened for passenger service. Regular routes serving NOTC have used a temporary site for the past two months since the early September closure to renovate the center. Work on the project was completed quicker than anticipated, and Omaha Metro notes riders will find a variety of updates to the center, including new concrete, new drive lanes, new platform additions, landscaping and more.

“People typically do not get excited about new concrete, but when you are riding in a bus, driving the bus or walking along a platform to get to the bus, structurally sound pavement is part of creating a safe and positive experience,” said Omaha Metro Transit Engineering and Construction Project Manager Joy Willoughby.

Omaha Metro says it took a new approach in the design and installation of the bus lanes. The agency relocated the seams, or joints, in the concrete it laid to keep them out of the path of bus tires to prevent the excessive wear they may cause. The new layout at NOTC is now intentionally designed so that those joints are out of the path of travel of Omaha Metro’s buses as much as possible.

The agency has also updated its platforms with new textured ADA warning panels, as well as outfitted the transit center with new benches and trash cans for riders.

Omaha Metro notes it replaced 45,000 square feet of concrete during the project. The agency says the construction was done in record time, and the closure allowed them the chance to install more resilient concrete that can stand up to more pressure along with the new concrete layout.

“Not only did the contractor finish the project on time, it was one of the best concrete projects I have been a part of in 25 years,” Willoughby said.