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OMAHA, NEB. – This afternoon, U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Surface Transportation Subcommittee, welcomed U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao to Omaha, Nebraska. "It was a pleasure welcoming U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to Nebraska once again today. The Secretary and I received an update from Nebraska Department of Transportation Director Kyle Schneweis on construction of the Lincoln South Beltway, a project made possible by the $25 million TIGER grant we worked to bring to Nebraska because of the significant impact this expressway will have on families and businesses in our state. Furthermore, as our nation prepares to celebrate Independence Day, we were excited to highlight a program I helped champion to provide truck driver jobs to young veterans," said Senator Fischer. The Lincoln South Beltway project will create a new east-west expressway located south of Lincoln in Lancaster County. The four-lane expressway will divert freight trucks from the local transportation network, which will help increase safety and mobility in local travel. Click here to read more about the Lincoln South Beltway. Senator Fischer championed the pilot program to create jobs for military veterans as part of the 2015 highway bill. Under this commercial driver pilot program, a group of approximately 700 former and current service members, ages 18 to 21, could drive commercial trucks across state lines. The participants must have trained on and operated similar vehicles while serving in the military to qualify for the pilot program. ### |
