A gravel portion of North 98th Street, stretching from Holdrege to Adams Street, is now freshly paved with new asphalt.
This improvement was long overdue due to the traffic volume on this road, according to Lancaster County Engineer Pam Dingman.
“We’ve had 600 to 700 cars a day on this stretch of gravel road… and as I’ve said for the last several years, anything more than 300 cars becomes super difficult to maintain,” Dingman told KLIN News.
A repaving was also in order due to weather effects on the road, as drought conditions produced lots of dust and rain would often turn the road into “a super muddy mess.”
Since work began on the road this spring, workers also completed the installation of roadway and driveway culvert pipes, ditch and roadway grading, shouldering, pavement marking, and erosion control.
“Everything is up and running now and hopefully ready for the next 50 years,” Dingman said.
Make sure to watch your speed when taking this smooth stretch of N. 98th, as Dingman says a higher concentration of residential driveways on the road prompted a speed limit reduction from 55 to 45 mph.
“So if you are used to driving on this corridor — and now we have that nice, sexy, smooth asphalt on there — just remember to slow down a little bit because the speed limit is 45 mph now,” Dingman advised.
In addition to the core construction activities, LES relocated a large transmission line on the west side of the project, along with other utilities that required relocation throughout the project area.
A gravel stretch of N. 98th Street, prior to being paved. (Courtesy: Lancaster County Engineer)