Highway 79, Main Street to be reconstructed

by Mary Le Arneal
Published 11/4/20

The Nebraska Department of Transportation held an open house Oct. 27 at the North Bend City Auditorium to inform the public about upcoming plans for improvements on Highway 79, including the Platte River Bridge, through town to the new interchange with the expressway being built.

Though the crowd of area residents was light, the interest was intense.

The DoT has been studying, measuring and proposing the improvements since 2019. The plans are not yet final, but will be solidified in 2021 with construction to begin in spring 2022 and could be completed by early 2023.

The urban reconstruction segment would require temporary closures of Hwy. 79 and a detour for through traffic. Closures through North Bend would be done one to three blocks at a time to minimize disruptions. The construction will be done in four phases allowing for better traffic flow and better access to properties adjacent to construction. The four phases are 14th Street to north city limits, 11th to 14th streets, Eighth to 11th streets and Sixth to Eighth streets. Construction within each phase would be completed before moving to the next construction phase.

The designated detour for Highway 79 through traffic would utilize Highway 30, County Road 4, and future Highway 30.

Downtown North Bend parking stalls would be reconfigured to prevent longer vehicles from encroaching into the through lanes when parked, and ADA parking would also be redesigned to meet current standards. These improvements would remove 15 of the existing 60 on-street parking stalls. The final parking design is still being reviewed.

If an individual’s property is impacted by this project, they will be contacted by an NDoT representative once the design footprint has been established.

Department of Transportation District 2 engineer Tim Weander was at the open house as well as many other NDoT personnel. He can be contacted at tim.weander@nebraska.gov for any questions. See the DoT website (see cutline above) to view the displays that were at the open house.

To see all the NDoT illustrations presented at the open house, click here.

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