Street improvement plan passes in 3-2 split vote

It was a split vote when the Sidney City Council approved the 2016 one-year and six-year street improvement plan following the public hearing held Tuesday evening during the council's regular meeting.

According to state statute 39-2115, each municipality "shall develop and file with the Board of Public Roads Classifications and Standards a long-range, six-year plan of street improvements based on priority of needs and calculated to contribute to the orderly development of an integrated statewide system of highways, roads and streets."

While the deadline to file the plan was March 1, the city received an extension.

Sidney Street Superintendent Hank Radtke presented the annual report at the start of the public hearing, first running down several street projects expected to be completed this year.

The street project on Pole Creek Crossing from Fort Sidney Road to the L-17-J link is partly done up to Greenwood Road, Radtke said, with the remainder estimated for completion in the spring. The total project cost is estimated at $3.5 million.

Another project at the Fort Sidney Road Bridge will closed for a maximum 14 days to allow work at the north end of the intersection to tie in with Pole Creek Crossing. Guard rails also need to be placed and the pedestrian crossing still needs to be completed.

"But we did get it open right before the wintertime," Radtke said.

The total project cost is estimated at $1 million.

The project on Jennifer Lane from Silverberg Drive to the L-17-J link is near completion. Radtke said he believes they are waiting on the state to have access tie in with the link road. The total project cost is estimated at $445,000.

A project concerning an extension to Gregory Drive is expected to be completed this summer and carries an estimated total cost of $125,000.

Anna Drive from Old Post Road to Outfitter Way is still in its early stages with some dirt work and storm drainage done. Radtke said the project, with an estimated total cost of $350,000, should be completed during the summer months.

"They have started on it," he said. "As soon as they get done with Gregory Drive, that same crew will be jumping on this project."

The street project on Outfitter Way from Anna Drive to Old Post Road will include a roundabout and is expected to be completed this summer. The total project cost is estimated at $315,000.

Chase Boulevard south of the city limits has some work done but is not complete, Radtke said. The estimated $400,000 project, paid by the developer, should be completed this summer.

Another project on Chase Boulevard, from the L-17-J link to the west end of the paving, required the portion of the street to be torn out and redone, Radtke said.

"They have quite a bit of it poured, but they don't have it all tied in to the link yet," he said. "They had to make it thicker because it wasn't thick enough for the truck traffic that was going to be on it, so it's going to be replaced."

The project, with an estimated total cost of $280,000 paid by the developer, is expected to be completed by the summer.

"A lot of these will be done by early spring, if the weather holds up, before summer," Radtke said.

While most of the projects are coming along, a joint city-state project on Hwy. 30 along Illinois Street included in the one-year plan might not be done this year, Radtke said.

"It's not a for sure thing that it won't be done," he said. "It's just a possibility that it won't be done, and I'll know more later."

Radtke said with work on the interstate, the project would leave nowhere for wide-load vehicles to travel.

"So if they start tearing this up, they'll have no place to go with wide-loads," he said. "So they're still discussing what they're going to do.

"As of now, it's a go, but it could be delayed."

Mayor Mark Nienhueser said they need to try to push the state on the project.

"I understand wide-loads, but we need to keep the pressure on the state to do this," Nienhueser said. "This has been the eleventh year on the five-year plan, and (the road) is in pretty tough shape all of the way through."

The estimated total project cost is nearly $1.9 million for the Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR) and $750,000 for the city.

Two new street projects in the one-year plan are for Enterprise Avenue and Commerce Court, which carry estimated total costs of $406,000 and $283,000.

Radtke then ran down the six-year streets improvement plan, which also includes all of the projects in the one-year plan.

An estimated $1.75 million project on 13th Avenue from Illinois Street to the railroad (BNRR) is in the six-year plan. Radtke said fieldwork and survey has been completed, and they in the process of conducting an engineering study.

"That won't be on the one-year plan because we haven't gone to construction, but (the engineering) part is being done now," he said.

Another project on the six-year plan is on Elm Street from 13th to 17th avenues. Radtke said portions on one side of the road are in better shape following its replacement durring work on the water line years ago.

"On the (other) side, it's pretty rough looking," he said.

Following the presentation, councilors Roger Galloway and Joe Arterburn expressed concerns about where funds from sales tax were going towards street improvements.

"Are we saving that for street improvement projects, or are we spending it on something else?" Arterburn asked.

Councilor William Gaston said the funds are used for crack sealing and regular maintenance, and Nienhueser said the council would make a decision as to where the funds are allocated.

"It's dedicated for street improvements, and when we look at being able to place the bonds for Pole Creek and Greenwood, how much we want to allocate to that and how much we want to allocate to maintenance," Nienhueser said.

"That's why I think it's important that we get the cost for 13th Avenue to see what that is. It's a substantial improvement."

Arterburn said the sales tax is for street improvement, not for new construction, an opinion Galloway shared.

"That's the concern I have as well," Galloway said. "The voters passed it on the basis that it's street improvements and that's what they're expecting to see, not new construction."

Arterburn said theoretically, at least $500,000 that was previously collected has not gone into street improvement.

"It's dedicated to street improvements," Nienhueser said. "We never decided as to how much of what is going out to new improvements versus the other improvements."

"New improvements is new construction," Arterburn said. "It's not new improvements."

The public hearing was closed shortly after 7:30 p.m. and the council approved the resolution regarding the plan in a 3-2 split vote, with Arterburn and Galloway both voting against.