Construction blueprints to better highway campus
Train delays may
be derailed with
plans for overpass
By Brian Carlson
Staff Reporter
On a frigid Tuesday morning, Ryan
Drapal sat on a shuttle bus waiting to
ride to a class on the other side of City
Campus. Two coal trains had just come
screaming past the parking lot where
he waited across from the Bob
Devaney Sports Center.
For Drapal, a freshman English
major, the trains that pass north of the
17th and Holdrege streets intersection
often delay his shuttle rides.
“Sometimes it makes you late.
Sometimes you’re there extra early,”
Drapal said. “Ybu can’t time out when
you need to be there.”
Jim Akin,-shuttle bus driver, agreed.
“It’s annoying,” he said. “For a
university of this size to be held back
by a railroad is kind of hard to explain.
But you get used to it.”
If motorists and pedestrians wait a
few more years, they might not have
to wait behind lights and crossbucks
any longer. A proposed overpass would
run traffic over the tracks and get more
students to class on time.
In response to concerns for trans
portation safety and convenience in a
large section of Lincoln surrounding
the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Rail
road, a group of local organizations
plan to improve the area’s infrastruc
ture over the next six years.
The City of Lincoln, the Univer
sity of Nebraska-Lincoln and the
Lower Platte South Natural Resources
District have begun work on a program
known as the Antelope Valley Major
Investment Study.
At the center of the area being stud
ied is the intersection at 17th and
[■
Aaron Steckelberg/DN
Holdrege streets, which borders two
City Campus perimeter parking lots
and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe
Railroad. One proposal is the construc
tion of a vehicle overpass in the area.
An average of 50 trains per day use
the tracks, resulting in frequent delays
for motorists and pedestrians.
Study participants say the proposed
overpass, which would be between
14th and 17th streets, would even traf
fic flow and prevent dangerous behav
ior by delayed travelers.
In recent years, UNL and
Burlington officials have received re
ports of students Climbing on or
through rail cars while a train was at
rest and blocking ttaffic.
Kim Todd, campus planner, said,
“While the time delays are an incon
venience, the real concern is that when
people are in a hurry, they do things
that are not in their best interests.”
Rick Haden, city operations man
ager, said if the project succeeds in
separating railway and street routes, it
would alleviate some transportation
andjurfety problems. ^
pedestrian routes on a different level
than thb trash tracks.
Haden emphasized that the Ante
lope study is a long-term program and
constructionjhightnot start until 1999.
Mike, Martin, a Burlington Rail
road spokesman, said the company
woukl participate in the study.
“We know there are a lot of activi
ties going on around the university, and
we’re doing everything we can to keep
the trains flowing in and out of town,”
he said. “So we’re supportive of any
efforts to build grade separation.”
Plans for construction are still
sketchy, and it is unclear what effect
the building of an overpass would have
on UNL parking lots and buildings.
Tad McDowell, parking services
manager, said his department is pre
paring for construction. When it re
cently paved a parking lot near the
Devaney Center, only a thin layer of
asphalt was used in case construction
requires changes. The gravel lot along
17th Street alsoHvas left unpaved.
The lots are also along the shuttle
bus routes, and the trains can make a
20-minute wait turn into 45 minutes.
“It would be nice to have some re
lief from die trains,” McDowell said.
“It prevents us from developing some
kind of regular schedule.” v
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Work will obstruct Interstate 180
throughout two-year long project
By Erin Schulte
Senior Reporter
After Thanksgiving break, finding
your way back to campus might not
be so easy.
The Department of Roads begins
its $14.9 million project reconstruct
ing the Interstate 180 overpass near
Ninth and Q streets on Dec. 1, and will
not finish until around August 1998.
During the first year, the Phase 1
plan will close southbound Interstate
180 from the Comhusker Highway
interchange to O Street. Passenger ve
hicle traffic will be rerouted to 11th
Street and Comhusker Highway, then
south through Sun Valley Boulevard
intersection to 10th Street.
Phase 2, which runs December
1997 to August 1998, will close the
northbound lanes of 1-180. Traffic will
be rerouted to 10th Street, then west
on Comhusker Highway to 1-180.
Officials at the Department of
Roads aren’t trying to sugar-coat the
difficulties the construction will cause.
“I think initially it’s going to be a
pretty big deal,” said Allan Abbott, the
department’s director/st&^engiheer.
Abbott said construction was
scheduled to start during die heavy
traffic holiday season because
Comhusker football garnet cause
worse traffic jams in Nebraska than
any holiday dinner with the family.
Construction was scheduled so it
would disrupt as few football games
as possible, Jie said. . '
The bridge, built in 1963, has de
teriorated to the point where replace
ment is crucial, Abbott said, and those
wishing the project could be put off
just have to accept the inconvenience.
“Did we have to do it this year? No,
it could have been next year,” Abbott
said. “Whenever you start, you’ve got
the problem.”
Hawkins Construction Co. of
Omaha will be working as quickly as
it can to get the project done — the
workers have incentive.
“The contractor gets so much for
doing the job, and so much for each
they finish before we predicted it could
be done,” Abbott said.
The Department of Roads has spent
the last year working with the City of
Lincoln to plot out alternate routes,
make signs directing motorists where
to go, and planning other construction
so it won’t interfere with 1-180 plans.
But while the construction may
make getting out of Lincoln more dif
ficult for holiday travelers, the same
department is trying to make travel
easier for motorists heading west on
Interstate 80 by installing changeable
message signs.
The department purchased 13 signs,
at $26,700 each, to alert drivers of win
ter storms, accidents and other problems
that would cause road closings.
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