Over the course of the past year, Todd Duren, the Vice President of Corporate Services at Loup Public Power District, conducted a comprehensive study in collaboration with Dennis Grennan and Dennis Hirschbrunner from D&D Consulting, examining the costs and advantages of the 30/64 connector project. The findings of their research have shown a significant impact.
According to Duren, the benefit-cost ratio for the project is estimated to be around 50 to 1, underscoring its immense value and potential benefits for the community.
The project, initially proposed in the early 2000s, aims to connect Highway 30 and Nebraska Highway 64, linking Bellwood to the region between Columbus and Richland. This connection would substantially reduce travel distances and time for those commuting between Platte and Butler counties.
Todd Duren
As a board member of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce and working closely with Nebraska Public Power District in numerous projects, Duren explained that the study's inception began with a survey conducted after the 2019 storm that isolated Columbus. Supporters of the corridor project believe it would offer an additional route out of town during similar emergencies.
The study's scope encompassed an approximately 20-year period, analyzing both short-term and long-term impacts. The primary cost in their calculations would involve constructing a bridge over the Platte River. To gauge the potential economic impact, they drew parallels to other corridors and parkways in similar areas, such as the US-77 bypass near Wahoo, the Cherry Avenue/Highway 10 corridor in Kearney, and the Lost Creek Parkway.
Duren elaborated on the significant success of the Lost Creek Parkway, which saw the emergence of 33 businesses and over $300 million in investments over the past decade. Based on this precedent, they estimated that the 30/64 connector project could create between 900 and 1,500 jobs over the 20-year period, with an annual economic impact of around $200 million.
A notable advantage of the connector, according to Duren, is its potential to facilitate job growth by making commuting easier for people living in Butler County and surrounding areas who can now access work opportunities in Columbus. Dawson Brunswick, the President of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, added that the proximity to the Union Pacific and BNSF railways would open up new land for industrial development, attracting high-skill, high-wage jobs and bolstering the overall economy.
Furthermore, Duren pointed out that the project's success could potentially lead to increased demand for housing in the region, which has been a challenge for Nebraska in recent years.