New Douglas County Engineer eyes development in county’s northwest

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Before being elected as Douglas County Engineer, Todd Pfitzer was an engineer for the City of Omaha. A major focus of his work is now in an area outside of the city in northwestern Douglas County.

“This is the hottest, fastest growing area in Douglas County right now is this northwest piece here,” said Pfitzer. “That’s where all the rooftops are and schools. Bennington and Omaha are building schools out in this area. Subdivisions are going in, and it overwhelms our street network.”

Page 1 of the 2023 Douglas County Engineering 6-Year Plan addresses the highly traveled intersection of 168th and State Streets, where construction is expected to start soon and wrap up by the Fall of next year.

Pfitzer says that two-lane county roads are generally designed to handle 12,000 cars a day. In northwest Douglas County, they’re well in excess of that, accommodating 16,000 to 18,000 drivers a day.

”When that happens, you start to get severe congestion at the intersections. You start to get crashes because people take chances. Eventually, all those cars get through there. They get to work. They get home. They get where they’re going. But it’s not efficient.”

You can expect road expansions and signalization.

”It’s been on the horizon for a lot of years. This is going to trigger many of the other intersections that are out in the area too,” he said.

Most intersections will start with utility work and then transition to road capacity expansion projects.

Drivers out there this week might notice road closures on State Street between 147th and 156th. That’s also road expansion and utility work.

Pfitzer also says a priority during his tenure is to secure funding to connect pedestrian and bike trails in western Douglas County.

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