Metro Transit’s North Omaha Transit Center reopens ahead of schedule
October 31, 2025
OMAHA, Neb. — Metro Transit’s North Omaha Transit Center is set to reopen for service first thing Saturday, November 1st. Regular routes serving NOTC have used a temporary site since early September, but crews are wrapping their work to welcome riders back to the transit center. It’s sooner than planned and riders can expect to find plenty of updates waiting for them 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 Joy Willoughby, Metro Transit’s Engineering and Construction Project Manager.
Looking to the future, Metro took a new approach in designing and installing the lanes buses travel down. Typically, concrete is separated by intentional seams called joints. This gives moisture, salt, and other damaging elements a place to go that is less likely to damage, destroy, or crack the concrete. But they’re not engineered to survive the wear and tear bus tires can put on joints. The new layout at NOTC is now intentionally designed so they’re out of the travel path of Metro’s buses as much as possible.
The same concrete used for the drive lanes has also been applied to several sections of our standing platform. An entire six-to-seven-foot section of the platform and multiple areas throughout are now replaced to fit brand new ADA panels for our riders. ADA panels are specially designed surfaces that warn riders of a curb or separation in a sidewalk and help them safely board their bus from the platform. These panels, along with brand new trash cans and benches, will create an overall safe and modern bus riding experience for our riders.
Structural, quality-of-life updates like these would normally take some time. Updating NOTC meant removing and replacing 45,000 square feet of concrete, which is two-thirds the size of a football field or three times the size of a hockey rink. But Metro understands that temporarily closing NOTC was an inconvenience for our riders, so our construction crew worked to reopen NOTC in a record amount of time. Not only are the joints redesigned for better longevity, but the new mix of concrete used by our construction crew can withstand even more pressure than before.
“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,” said Willoughby.
Metro believes these changes will create an overall improved experience for both riders and bus operators. Riders can plan a trip, track their bus, check schedules, and more at myride.ometro.com or with the MyRide OMA app.
