(Tom Stanton, KLIN News)
Following community uproar, Lincoln Transportation and Utilities (LTU) has announced they will be postponing portions of road work in the University Place area until the spring of 2024.
The arterial improvement project on North 48th Street from Leighton to Madison avenues has inhibited traffic access since spring of this year. This prolonged closure created traffic congestion in the area and hardships for local businesses cut off to traffic by the project, namely Beauty Girl Boutique, which closed doors on Saturday—unable to weather the dip in business and damages that occurred to her building. The closure of the Boutique on the corner of N. 48th and Madison recently triggered a response and project update from LTU.
That portion of North 48th Street will open to traffic the week of Thanksgiving and remain open until spring 2024.
“The City’s commitment to its business community and our effort to maintain the City’s infrastructure continues to be top priorities for our team,” said Liz Elliott, LTU Director. “Postponing this segment of the arterial mill and overlay project will open up the street several weeks sooner than planned. This will allow for easy entrance into businesses in this area just in time for Black Friday and also mitigate any risk of construction delays or future maintenance issues due to weather unconducive to construction operations or any unforeseen circumstances.”
To prepare the area for traffic, crews are filling holes, completing work on a pedestrian signal at Huntington Avenue, cleaning the site, and applying temporary pavement markings. The Leighton to Madison avenues portion of the project was originally expected to be completed in winter 2023/2024. The remaining work on the project is expected to take up to eight weeks to complete.
“We are listening to our community,” said Kris Humphrey, LTU Project Delivery Manager. “The water main project, which was one of the primary reasons for the full closure to this section of North 48th Street, will be complete the week of Thanksgiving and the road opened to traffic. We will return to this area in the spring and construct a new smooth street in weather conditions more conducive to the construction activities remaining. We plan to keep one lane of street open in each direction during the remaining construction activities in 2024.”
For more information, visit lincoln.ne.gov/closures