‘The people of Beatrice don’t want that’: Community petitions against roadwork on Highway 77

BEATRICE, Neb. (KLKN) – Plans to put Highway 77 on a road diet are moving forward, unless many citizens in the area can stop it.

Road dieting is the concept of turning four lanes into two lanes, with a center lane in between.

The citizens of Beatrice tell Channel 8 that they are worried that doing this will create more issues than it hopes to solve; the city says it’s all about safety.

The Nebraska Department of Transportation says the purpose of the project is to preserve the area, a transportation asset, and to improve the reliability of the transportation system and maintain mobility for the traveling public.

NDOT’s plan also says the construction is needed based on the current condition of the highway.

Council member Duane Ruh cast the lone vote against the roadwork and says he wanted to represent the people’s concerns and requests for other options.

“The people of Beatrice don’t want that. They don’t want it. They overwhelmingly want to leave it four lanes,” said Ruh, who says he has received hundreds of complaints from residents.

Another part of this construction would be work done on a Viaduct bridge, a few miles down the road from the city’s southbound entrance.

“If we change that, if they rebuild that bridge to two lanes, our cost to the city is about half a million dollars. If we leave it four lanes or rebuild it at four lanes, we have to pick up the difference in the cost, which is about $6.1 million total,” said Ruh.

One Beatrice driver compares this plan to one recently done on the east side of Beatrice, which was funded through a federal grant.

“I think, you know, I think it’s going to work either way!” said Jerry Weber.

The NDOT plans say improvements to the highway will include concrete repairs and milling and resurfacing the roadway with asphalt.

Construction could start as early as this summer.