1st Street renovation project to begin in May

City officials approved plans last week for a three-phase project set to begin this spring which will involve a major renovation of the busy 1st Street corridor stretching from the Highway 34 intersection to the railroad tracks south of the school.
Representatives with JEO Consulting reviewed specific plans for the estimated $5.6 million project, with council members asking several questions before giving the green light to proceed by unanimous vote.
“This project has been a long, long time coming,” noted Mayor Marlin Seeman. “The whole discussion about this and the quality of the street was of concern to residents that were long-time members, prominent members of the community, so there’s just a tie-in here that this is really achieving a goal that I think we’ll be very excited about.”
The scope of the project will involve 3,400 feet of roadway, expanding what is now a 22-foot wide street to a 37-foot street with eight-inch deep concrete lined with curb and gutter. Steve Parr, a senior engineer with JEO, pointed out that the finished project will change the look of the 1st Street corridor significantly.
“The roadway is going to look completely different than it does now,” he told the council during its Feb. 27 meeting. “I mean that roadway is going to be over two feet lower than what it is now. When you go out there and look now the roadway is higher than the adjacent properties, so that whole thing is going to come down.”
In addition to building a wider street, the project will include safety features including four crossings as well as sidewalks on both sides of the street. JEO consultant Payton Best noted that crossings, each equipped with solar-powered push-button activators, will be located on the north end of the project on the east side of 1st Street by Highway 34, as well as at Capital Street, L Street and H Street by the school.
There is limited sidewalk access now along the street, which will change significantly once the project is complete. Best explained to council members using detailed drawings that five-foot sidewalks will be placed on both sides of the street from Highway 34 to L Street, while six-foot sidewalks are planned on both sides from L Street to the school property.
Toward the end of the meeting, Councilman Dick Phillips suggested that one additional segment of sidewalk be considered on the east side of the street between the railroad tracks and the school.
“If kids come running up from the south but have to cross the street, turn around and cross back across the street, we know they’re not going to do that,” he said. “I’m wondering if a sidewalk along the west side of the playground at the elementary school would be a possibility.”
“We’ll look at that,” Parr responded. “Now is the time to add it if you are going to do it.”

Three-phase project
Due to the length of the project, heavy traffic during school hours, as well as limited access for residents who live along 1st Street the project will be completed in three phases. Best explained how the phasing will proceed.
“Phase 1 will be the railroad tracks to Mark Street,” she began. “We will allow temporary access to Bryan Street via crushed rock during this phase, which should be constructed between May 20 and Aug. 10 because it is near the school. Phase 2 will be from Mark Street to West L Street and Phase 3 from West L Street to Highway 34.”
The sequence of phasing will be discussed further with city staff and community members once the project gets closer.
“We will need very strong communication during this time because we will be impacting approximately 150 homes during this project with their only access being 1st Street,” Best said. “That’s going to be a constant thing for us there.”
Council member Phillips emphasized the need for clear and constant communication, especially with residents who live right on the busy corridor.
“That’s going to be an important issue because for some of them access will be totally gone,” Phillips said. 
Another related challenge, Parr pointed out, is that existing utilities, including gas and telecommunications lines, will be impacted during construction.
“We’ve been in contact with them, but that’s going to be a major project for them as well to relocate things, so there is a little bit of concern with timing,” he said. “There have been some conversations with one local contractor that possibly could get this built this year, but we’re trying to play it safe.”
Parr also noted that while the first phase of the project will be timed while school is not in session, timing of the final two phases will be left up to the contractor, which will be determined in a bid-letting process. The project will be advertised for bid in late March and early April, with a contract expected to be awarded at the council’s April 9 meeting.
“I hope nobody has sticker shock when we talk about prices,” Seeman noted. “We’re going to know a lot more as we begin bid-opening in the spring here because we’re going to have a couple of them (bid openings) ahead of this, so we’re going to have some idea of what the real number is as far as contractors go.”
According to the preliminary schedule, work could begin in late May after school is out. “Substantial completion” is targeted for August 2025, with “final completion” expected by September 2025.
“We’ve gone through the plans a couple of times and we’ve gotten all the input that the school wanted or thought might make the project better,” City Administrator Rick Melcher said of previous meetings with Aurora school officials including Supt. Jody Phillips. “We got information from them on the crosswalks, sidewalks, drainage from their areas and talked about any future development they might have at the school that we don’t know about now. We’ve involved them quite a bit and we’ll continue to do that throughout the construction project.”

Three-lane street
Due to the increased traffic along 1st Street, engineers have designed the project to include a middle turn lane along portions of the street, similar to the design on Highway 14. Seeman noted that 1st Street was built more than 40 years ago as only a “dust suppression street,” thus it was well past time that it be addressed. Parr agreed, noting that a three-lane design was recommended based on the results of a traffic impact study.
“So the good thing about that is the center lane could be used for stacking when there is lots of traffic before and after school,” he said. “It could be stacked in the middle to help keep traffic moving.”
In other business at the Feb. 26 meeting, the council:
* approved a resolution instructing Community Action Partnership of Mid-Nebraska (RYDE Transit) to apply for federal funds and to provide for $15,086 in local funding match, an increase of $2,711 from last year;
* approved plans and specifications for additional sanitary sewer main work for Mission Critical project, also authorizing advertising for bids;
* approved renewal of State Department of Roads maintenance agreement for $14,581.20, the same amount as last year;
* approved a request from Deb Kalkwarf at Grandview Cafe for a special designated liquor license for a fundraiser at The Leadership Center April 26-27, from 4 p.m. to midnight both days.