Seward County Board of Commissioners on Dec. 5 questioned whether Matzke Highway/County Road 238 can handle increased traffic as an Interstate 80 detour in 2024 in its current condition.
The Seward County Board of Commissioners delayed their response to a Nebraska Department of Transportation’s request to designate the connecting highway between the interstate and Highway 34 as a detour for east- and westbound interstate traffic when it replaces bridges that pass over the interstate between Lincoln and the Milford Interchange.
County Road Superintendent Terry Wicht was to return to the Commissioners on Dec. 12 with additional information.
The bridge projects are part of the state’s two-lane interstate expansion project that will add a 28-foot paved median and concrete barrier to create six lanes of travel.
The proposed detour route would send westbound drivers to Nebraska Highway 34 from the Interstate 1-80 interchange in Lincoln to Matzke Highway, and from Matzke Highway to the Milford Interstate 80 Interchange, as shown on the NDOT’s project detour map.
Eastbound I-80 travelers would make the same route in reverse.
NDOT documents provided to the county show the project will repair or replace mainline and overhead bridge structures, extend, modify or construct new culverts, remove and replace guardrails and reconstruct the Highway 103/NW 154th Street Interchange north of Pleasant Dale.
A three-year construction schedule should begin in 2024 with eight separate nighttime closures expected between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. for one direction of traffic at a time.
The commissioners deferred a vote on the request until the County Road Department could ask the state about other options and determine if work on Matzke Highway could be accelerated prior to the start of the Interstate 80 project.
At issue is the current condition of Matzke Highway (County Road 238) and the need to have improvements made before and potentially after increased traffic on the connecting highway.
The state documents indicate the state will inspect Matzke Highway’s conditions before designating the detour and after the construction is completed, to determine deterioration from the pre-detour condition and whether it warrants repair.
Should such work be needed, the state would reimburse the county for agreed upon costs.
But Commission Chair John Culver questioned whether Matzke Highway could withstand the additional traffic the detour would send over its pavement given its current condition. He also asked if there would be need for additional traffic control at the intersection of Matzke Highway and Highway 34.
“Right now, Matzke is not in the best of shape,” Culver said.
Commissioners also questioned whether Highway 6 would be a better detour route. The state’s project map shows the widening project extending from a point east of Emerald in Lancaster County to a point south of the east edge of the Twin Lakes State Wildlife Management Area, which would be northeast of Milford.
Highway 6 runs somewhat parallel to Interstate 80 to its south and joins Lincoln’s West O Street.
But Culver said later the Highway 6 detour option may not be viable because of the low railroad bridge over Highway 6 near Emerald.
