‘It’s going to be terrible’: Seward students will face detours heading back to school

SEWARD, Neb. (KLKN) – Students in Seward are taking in the last few days of summer before they go back to school on Wednesday.

But they might have to leave their houses earlier because of construction.

Kameren Neihardt is going to be a junior at Seward High School.

He said he’s looking forward to seeing his friends again but isn’t excited about his drive.

“It’s going to be terrible,” he said. “You can’t drive through anywhere.”

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Highway 15 is still under construction, and traffic is detoured past the high school.

The southbound lanes of North Sixth Street are also closed from Northern Heights Drive to Main Street.

The construction manager, Brian Schoen, said the project needed to happen because the roads were in rough shape.

“We’re adding a new storm sewer, new lighting,” he said. “It’s going to be all new fresh concrete pavement.”

He said the city is adding a crosswalk to the Northern Heights intersection.

The superintendent of Seward Public Schools, Josh Fields, is thrilled about that.

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To help with traffic, the city recommends taking North Second Street, Highway 34 or Pinewood Avenue as detour routes.

Seward resident Stacey Neihardt said she’s worried that it will take students longer to get to school.

“You have to go all these different blocks to get where you need to go and, like, up here, you have to drive a few blocks down just to find parking down here,” she said.

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Fields said parents and students should be patient with construction crews while they repair the roads.

“If they could use Second Street versus Fifth Street, that would be a better way to have that traffic flow,” he said. “Be patient and flexible as they work on that construction project, which should hopefully be done within the year.”

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