DEENA WINTER / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Monday, August 14, 2006 7:00 pm
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.
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.