Water main work downtown could close lanes for months
Posted By: Bayley Bischof
bbischof@klkntv.com
Traffic on 10th Street downtown has been slowed down thanks to utility work, said two residents who drive the road often.
"Always some type of road closure that’s super inconvenient,” Terrence Moore, Lincoln resident said.
The two right lanes of 10th Street between K and O Street are closed as of Monday.
Linsey Camblin, an attorney that drives to the courthouse every day said, "it was already pretty backed up early this morning all the way back a couple of stop lights."
The city is replacing water mains on 10th, 11th and M street over the next several months, causing lane closures on one of Lincoln’s busiest roads.
City officials said it’s necessary.
"The existing water main is over 130 years old, and we have experienced frequent breaks that are unpredictable,” Danielle Vachal, with the City of Lincoln said.
But that doesn’t make scheduling a big project like this any easier, especially with Husker Football season right around the corner.
"We want to get this done as quickly as possible,” Vachal said. “We’ve identified verbiage for the contractor on what they can and cannot do on home football weekends."
She says one lane will re–open from Friday until Sunday on those weekends.
But two lanes will be closed during other peak traffic times.
Vachal said, while this is inconvenient, it will make the work go by faster since materials and equipment can be stored at the work-site.
After work on 10th Street is done, 11th Street from L to Q and then M street from 9th to 11th will be next.
Vachal recommends planning extra time if you need to take 10th Street.
You can also go the City of Lincoln’s website and type in “closures” to find out the latest updates in the project.
Learn more about this project: http://lincoln.ne.gov/city/pworks/projects/downtown/water-main/10th-11th-m/
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The City of Lincoln is replacing water mains on 10th street between K street and O street.
The project has the two far right lanes closed between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Once the water mains are replaced, other projects start that could keep these lanes closed for several months.
A representative from the city said they are going to work around the Husker Football schedule and hope to have at least one of the lanes back open on game days and over the weekends.
