Concerns rise in North Omaha as city replaces street parking with bike lanes

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - A North Omaha homeowner says his family is working hard to make things safe around their elderly mother’s house after the city took away her parking area.

Dorothy Fant says a bike lane will soon take the place of what was once door-front parking. North 16th Street has been resurfaced and now there’s grass between the sidewalk and the street.

“We’re worried about my mom,” said Glenn Fant. “We had to put this concrete here in from the curb to the sidewalk... and then they told us if we cut that curb, then we have to pay to get it fixed.”

Glenn and his brothers are trying to make it easier for 84-year-old Dorothy to move in and out of her house. He told 6 News that’s becoming more difficult with a bike lane moving in. Dorothy is able to use the alley behind her house, but Glenn says the city doesn’t maintain the alley, so they do.

“They don’t plow the alley, they don’t maintain it,” Glenn said. “Between spring and fall, me, my mom and both my brothers, we go get rock in our pickups and spread it out. Otherwise, it would be soup back there.”

Dorothy has lived in her home on North 16th since 1962, and she doesn’t plan to move, so unless something changes, her family will have to continue to come out of pocket to make it safer for her to move in and out of the house.

“We’re just kind of between a rock and a hard place,” Glenn said.

Dorothy says there’s an apartment building being constructed across the street form her house, and that those tenants will most likely take up what little parking there is on the other side of her home. Plus, she’d have to cross the street.

“Everybody’s going to need that space and we won’t have anywhere to park,” Dorothy said. “We can’t get in the garage because there’s too much snow, so there you are.”

Just because the city builds bike lanes, Dorothy doesn’t think that means cyclist will use them.

“There’s not that many bikes [in this area],” Dorothy said. “It’s mostly motorcycles. Nothing to make this worthwhile. We’ve been here since ‘62 and we don’t see too many people riding bicycles.”

Glenn is worried about her safety, and Dorothy wishes the city had the same concerns.

“They promised to do this for the bikers but they’re not worried about the residents,” said Dorothy.

6 News reached out to Omaha’s Public Works Department, who said they responded to Dorothy and her family by sending a letter, essentially telling them that the parking has been eliminated and no individual is entitled to have private parking on a public street.

As far as the unpaved alley goes, the city points out that there are many similar alleys in the city and they can be paved if neighbors consider a street improvement district. That move would pave the alley with the expense shared between residents who benefit from the improvements and the city itself.

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