LINCOLN — After another cut in state funding, an effort to link recreation trails from Omaha and Lincoln through Cass County is looking at other options.

But an official with the agency seeking to build the connector trail said he’s still optimistic, despite more than one setback that the trail will eventually be built.

“Maybe it took this to find the right path,” said David Potter, the general manager of the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District.

“We remain optimistic,” Potter said. “We’re doing our part to complete the connector. We’re looking at all options and even thinking outside of the box.”

Potter spoke following the end of the 2026 session of the Nebraska Legislature, which saw lawmakers and Gov. Jim Pillen adopting a budget that took back about $3.8 million in state funds that had been earmarked to build the connector trail from the Cass County village of Wabash to a hike-bike bridge across the Platte River at Cedar Creek.

Back in 2022, the Legislature had allocated $8.3 million to bridge the 8-mile gap between the two trails. But state budget shortfalls had Pillen and state lawmakers “sweeping” unspent funds to help resolve budget problems the past two years.

The result: That $8.3 million shrunk to about $1.2 million, which the Lower Platte NRD will use to clear and develop an additional 2.25 miles of the Mo Pac East Trail on abandoned railroad property running eastward from Wabash.

The NRD board recently approved a $462,000 contract with a Cass County contractor, Nebraska Digging, to build a crushed limestone trail on the old railroad bed. The project should be completed by this fall.

Meanwhile, Potter said, the NRD is exploring new routes for the connector trail — and funding to build it — that might link up with Platte River State Park, the village of Manley and the city of Louisville, as well as the Lied Bridge across the Platte River.

Potter said that includes seeking grants and private donations.

“It’s going to take everyone to pull this together and leverage the money we need,” he said.

The need to seek a new route became necessary after the Cass County Board, after initially approving a route for the connector trail in 2024, reversed course a year ago after an election changed the membership of the board. The County Board voted 4-1 to reject a preferred route chosen by a consultant after a series of public meetings that extended along 334th Street, a little-traveled, north-south gravel road.

The County Board had to approve the use of its right of way for the trail. The new 2.25-mile stretch of trail being built by the NRD was already owned by the district and doesn’t require any county road.

Just when a new connector route might be identified was unclear.

“We will just keep plugging along,” Potter said.

This story was published by Nebraska Examiner, an editorially independent newsroom providing a hard-hitting, daily flow of news. Read the original article: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/trail-connector-in-cass-county-looking-at-new-options-after-funding-cut/