Beatrice City Council approves Highway 77 lane reduction; residents voice concerns
BEATRICE, Neb. (KLKN) – An ongoing discussion between the City of Beatrice and its citizens has been going on for years over Highway 77.
The area, belonging to the state and not the City of Beatrice, is going on a road diet as the city council voted unanimously to reduce the highway’s lanes from four to three, one being a turning lane.
The project is being handled by the Nebraska Department of Transportation and isn’t set to break ground for at least another year.
Those in attendance at Monday’s city council meeting voiced their concerns with passion as council members pushed back on why the project should be successful.
“I think this is a good solution for the city. We did not have $6 million. We do not now have $6 million to spend on this. It would cripple our street department for years if we had to come up with that money,” said Councilwoman Dana Hydo.
Community members called out a lack of transparency in the council’s decision-making process.
Billy Hofeling served on a committee with the city council and had this to say.
“You get quotes, you decide if you’re going to go with option A or option B, and here we’re talking about millions of dollars and impacting an entire community, and when I asked, it couldn’t be provided in writing; plans or quotes as to what it would look like at four lanes versus three lanes,” said Billie Hofeling, who has served on a committee with city council members to discuss the project.
A consistent response from the council referred to NDOT.
“This is NDOT’s project. NDOT will make the final decision as to what the design of the project is,” said Tobias Tempelmeyer, the city’s administrator.
Several council members driving home the point that the project’s primary focus is safety.
“NDOT’s primary goal is to address the condition of the pavement and make safety improvements where possible,” said Council Member Gary Barnard.
In addition to work on Highway 77, the South Sixth bridge will also be getting an upgrade.
It will remain at 52 feet wide, although the length will increase by several feet and 10-foot sidewalks will be added to both sides of the bridge.
“It’s strictly a safety move that needs to be done if you value life,” said Beatrice Mayor Bob Morgan.
Some in attendance were not convinced by the goal.
“Mr. Mayor, you mentioned that safety was a concern for the bridge. My question to each of you is, do you think that removing the pedestrian crossing light will improve pedestrian safety for people crossing 6th Street, the highway?” asked resident James Nelson.
The mayor’s response?
“The answer to that is, that’s why the state is going to study it,” said Mayor Morgan.
Community members gave Channel 8 more of their stance from outside the boardroom.
“We, as the people, the citizens of Beatrice, did not get the information. The city administration, the mayor, would not provide that information. As it got later into this thing, there came a plan and then, all of a sudden, the city council says, hey, we’ll vote for this resolution and we’re going to change it from a four-lane to a three-lane and people were shocked,” said David Rayburn.
Another resident, Greg Buttell said he understood where the city council was coming for.
“The city council has been trying to work out an agreement with the state,” he said.
“How to make half of it one way and half, four lanes, three lanes and I think they’re trying as hard as they can to get it right, to please everyone and to please the state.”
Although the vote to change the four lanes to three has officially been made, the decision on where the transition will happen is still to be determined.
The next city council meeting will be on July 20.
