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O Street to re-open

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By DEENA WINTER / Lincoln Journal Star

Tuesday, Aug 15, 2006 - 03:59:16 pm CDT

After being closed for five months, a wider O Street will re-open to traffic Wednesday, with six lanes from 46th to 52nd streets.

Public Works & Utilities Director Karl Fredrickson didn’t have an exact time drivers would get the green light, but promised the road will open, nine days ahead of schedule.

The contractor still needs to put backfill between the curb and sidewalks, so inside or outside lanes could temporarily close during non-peak traffic, but four lanes will always be open from here on out, Fredrickson said.

Story Photo
Looking west on O Street toward 52nd Street, traffic has to detour for the O Street widening and reconstruction project. (LJS File)

Hawkins Contracting will get about a $45,000 bonus for finishing nine days ahead of schedule. How did they do it?

“Drought,” Fredrickson said. “Being dry allows work to get done every day.”

Closing O Street is a “monstrous disruption” to Lincoln, so the city offered a $5,000 per day incentive to get the job done early. The whole $18 to $20 million project includes rebuilding 48th Street from M to R streets, and that work is not finished. One north-south lane will be open in each direction while construction continues.

That portion is expected to be done by Nov. 17. Final cleanup to “get every bread crumb cleaned up” and median landscaping along O Street will continue next spring, Fredrickson said.

When everything is done, the intersection of 48th and O will have dual left turning lanes in all directions and a much quicker ride through the area, Fredrickson said.

But don’t get too excited. The speed limit will still be 40 mph.

Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.


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c.h. wrote on August 15, 2006 4:24 pm:
" Let the celebrations begin!!! "Rejoice with a Mustang for it will dance down the highway and bump no one." ATTRIBUTION:Anne Sexton (1928-1974), U.S. poet "
Gary B wrote on August 15, 2006 4:34 pm:
" Holy smokes! A road construction crew finished ahead of time in Lincoln?!?! We better contract through those guys from now on! "
omnione wrote on August 15, 2006 5:16 pm:
" From 1 year to Thanksgiving to late August, that's a good pace! Too bad they can't do all the street projects in Lincoln. :) "
jelba fluebig wrote on August 15, 2006 11:02 pm:
" whooopie dooo, 48th street is still a narrow residential street south of of O street. so big friggin deal "
Great! wrote on August 16, 2006 12:31 pm:
" Now lets get to work fixing the other real traffic problem in Lincoln: no north/south routes between 9th and 81st. Paving 27th for that last mile or so as a 4 lane road would be a great start! Who cares what Jonathan Cook thinks...he should be representing the WHOLE city, not just his neighbors anyhow! They'll be fairly compensated for any loss...and the city will be much better off! "
hard hat harry wrote on August 16, 2006 2:27 pm:
" This city has some SERIOUS traffic issues .Its beyond pathetic . I'm happy with the completion of the recent O St job. Thats only the beginning. Lincoln really needs to look hard & long into the ongoing traffic flow problems. No easy access to the Interstate whatsoever. A north/south expressway needs to be looked at. As long as the 'powers that be' take a small town approach to these issues,we'll never see any kind of improvements. "
D.S.B. wrote on August 16, 2006 5:55 pm:
" hhh, What ARE you talking about. I drive from Lincoln to Omaha, and back again, at least once a week. There's something like 6 ramps off and onto the interstate in each direction! for taht matter, there's no point in Lincoln that's more than 25 minutes away from any other point. Unless you're slowed down by road construction, that is. Jonathen Cook is right to pull rein on runaway construction! Thanks John, for doing what we elected you for!!! "
sarah s. wrote on August 16, 2006 6:36 pm:
" Yee-freakin'-ha! Oh wait, there's nothing on 48th and 'O' worth driving to anymore...the whole area is blighted according to Grandma. For that matter, there's nothing but ugly-looking businesses up and down 'O' Street west of 56th St. And the only traffic jams before the new construction project were with N-S traffic on 48th Street, not with 'O' Street. Widening S. 48th for two blocks isn't going to help drivers headed to HWY 2 to get the he** out of this claustrophobic city. I know, I know, curse me for even suggesting a N-S arterial project. "
GA wrote on August 16, 2006 8:33 pm:
" This city has mass transit dysfunction. A trolley and light rail system really need to be instituted so developers can build around that infrastructure. Lincoln has an opportunity to avoid fossil fuel and pollution issues if she acts in an intelligent manner. "

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