Officials have awarded a $352 million contract to an Omaha company to build the freeway that will connect two highways on the south side of Lincoln, which is known as the South Beltway Project. The Nebraska Department of Transportation says the Lincoln South Beltway Project is the largest ever undertaken by the agency.

Estimated to be completed in Spring of 2023, the four-lane east-west freeway will stretch for 11 miles, connecting U.S. Highway 77 with Nebraska Highway 2. The contract was awarded Friday to Hawkins Construction. Work is expected to begin in the spring. Officials have been seeking the project for decades as a way to speed travel and lessen congestion on Highway 2 through Lincoln.

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