Poor communication

The Aurora City Council made a key decision on behalf of this community last week regarding future plans to rebuild the busy Highway 34 corridor passing through town. Unfortunately, Aurorans had little say in the matter and communication leading up to that decision was handled poorly.
It’s become obvious in recent years that the outer lanes of the Highway 34 roadway through town are deteriorating, to the point that Nebraska Department of Transportation officials predict the road will “fail” by 2028-30. City leaders have been well aware of that fact, with discussions beginning more than a year ago on when, and how, to rebuild a 1.71-mile stretch which sees an average of almost 7,000 vehicles per day.
Hoping to advise the community of a pending change, a steering committee was formed last year including those who own businesses along the corridor and other local leaders. That group raised several legitimate questions and concerns with the concept of replacing the existing 4-lane highway with what is being called a “three-lane modified urban highway.” Topping that list, why reduce the number of lanes when considering the heavy daily traffic, the large volume of trucks heading to and from the ethanol plant, and concerns for pedestrian safety, especially at the crosswalk near the aquatic center?
There were also questions raised about installing a stop light at the 1st Street intersection, where the Streeter housing subdivision stands poised to increase residential traffic in the coming years, and perhaps lowering the speed limit through town. At a meeting in July of last year all of those questions were voiced, with NDOT officials standing firm behind their  plan that the three-lane modified design would in fact be safer based on their engineering analysis and expertise.
No public meetings have been held since that meeting, leading many to believe that the issue was on hold while perhaps additional traffic studies were completed and/or other options were considered. Instead, city leaders made the decision to proceed, in effect saying there was no choice as the state was not going to move forward on this project without community consent.
But why the rushed vote, with no advance notice given to members of the steering committee or the community at large? Some of the same questions were raised during the June 27 meeting by council members, which could have/should have triggered at least a delayed vote to allow more input and to let people know. Instead, a final decision was made, by unanimous vote.
If endorsing the NDOT’s design was a foregone conclusion in order to have the state pay for construction and maintenance of a multi-million roadway, then say so. Approving the plan this way makes it look as though city leaders decided to make a hard call and ask for forgiveness later, rather than working through some complex details and gathering consent up front.
That’s not the way to communicate on a decision this community will live with for decades to come.
-- Kurt Johnson