The City of Seward continues to work through projects related to the reconstruction and widening of Highway 15 next spring.
The $10 million highway project will be completed and mostly paid for by the Nebraska Department of Transportation, but city officials said it’s important for the city to complete a few side projects so it won’t have to tear up the new highway in a couple years.
City Engineer Mike Oneby said three projects are currently in progress. They are being paid for out of the city’s General Fund and were all three budgeted in either the past fiscal year or the new budget cycle that began on Oct. 1.
The first two projects are to improve the storm sewer systems on Bradford Street and Park Avenue.
Both projects stretch from Highway 15 to the west. They both began in June, will likely pause because of weather during the winter months, and are set to be substantially completed by July 1, 2024. The final completion date is Aug. 1, 2024.
The third project is at the intersection of Izaak Walton Road and Highway 15 on the south end of town near Tenneco.
The $851,000 project was awarded to Gehring Construction and Ready Mix of Columbus, Ohio, on Oct. 3.
Oneby said it is set to be completed by April 1, 2024, when the NDOT’s highway reconstruction project begins.
He said the Izaak Walton intersection needs to be widened to comfortably accomodate two-lane traffic, as it will be the start of a detour routing vehicles out to Highway 34, then back into Seward while Highway 15 is under construction.
The embankment next to the intersection will be built up about 14 feet and the intersection moved to the south to align the crossings on both sides of the highway.
Additionally, City Administrator Greg Butcher said the city plans to phase in water main replacements over the next two years to replace the mains under Highway 15 as the reconstruction project comes through.
That will prevent the city from having to tear up the new roadway later.
