(KTNC) -- Progress continues on the Highway 136 project through downtown Auburn, Nebraska though recent rains have slowed work on paving the sidewalks.
Project Manager Mike Habegger, with the Department of Roads, gave an update on the project at Auburn City Hall Tuesday afternoon. Workers laid some concrete on Tuesday while they were dodging raindrops. He said they completed a section of sidewalk from Highway 75 to Old Whiskey Run and another section on the north side of Highway 75.
Weather permitting, Habegger says they would prep the sidewalks Tuesday afternoon and continue pouring concrete early Wednesday morning. The contractor hopes to finish the sidewalks by Saturday so the barricades can be removed and open Highway 136 to local traffic in downtown Auburn early next week.
Phase two will begin after the sidewalk is complete. Habegger says the contractor wants to do stages one and two of that phase at the same time. That would mean doing two lanes at once, rather than one as planned. Habegger said that would require permission of property owners in that area.
The contractor estimates that could cut one to two weeks off the time it takes to do the next phase of the project.
As construction continues, Habegger says they’re still having problems with semi-truck traffic through Auburn. He says they’ll take steps to try and dissuade trucks from using Highway 136 in Auburn when they reopen the road to local traffic. That includes setting up barricades and cones to separate east and westbound traffic, though he says it will be difficult to prevent all trucks from using the highway.
Trucks are prohibitted from using Highway 136 through Auburn until the entire project is complete this fall.
Another problem, Habegger says, is people not minding the sidewalk barricades. He says they’ve had several incidents of people skirting the barricades and walking through the freshly poured concrete, forcing workers to tear up the concrete and redo the work.
Habegger said work on Highway 136 between Brownville and Auburn would likely begin sometime next week. Crews that were to have started that part of the project are finishing work on Highway 2 around Nebraska City and have been hampered by recent rainfall there.
© Many Signals Communications
MOST VIEWED STORIES
Walnut Township recall coming; Friday mtg erupts in arrest
Sabetha woman arrested in business burglary
Effingham teen facing child sex crimes charges
Severe storms move through NE KS
Two search warrants, two Horton homes, two arrests
Document forgery alleged in ATCO's Walnut Township
Two Brown Co officers honored for their bravery
Whiting woman pleads to theft of fire dept. funds
Severe storms reported Tuesday in NE KS
Flags across KS to fly half-staff Sunday
Atchison man nabbed for neighbor's 4 wheeler theft
Two men arrested in Jackson Co for distribute of meth
Winning lottery ticket sold in Falls City about to expire
Meriden man bound over on rape charge
Tornado damage surveyed in NE KS
Richardson County Deputies busy during special enforcement
Beef Barn replacement planned in Jefferson Co
LATEST STORIES
Two search warrants, two Horton homes, two arrests
Brown Co Sheriff's Office releases April stats
Flags across KS to fly half-staff Sunday
Commission takes action related to bridge project
Whiting woman pleads to theft of fire dept. funds
Two men arrested in Jackson Co for distribute of meth
Winning lottery ticket sold in Falls City about to expire
RELATED STORIES
State of Emergency declared in Auburn
Rural Falls City man arrested following Auburn robbery
Company to purchase Ariens facility in Auburn
Ariens to close Auburn, Neb plant
One dead in train-pickup crash
Adult Sports Group Forming in Auburn
Gov. Ricketts Visits Auburn High School