GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (KSNB) - The Grand Island city council has set in motion a big number of road projects that will have an impact on many drivers. Tuesday night they approved a six year plan and one of the biggest projects the city will have ever done can start as soon as this summer.

The intersection that is the source of the most car crashes in the entire city of Grand Island will be getting major improvements. Old Potash Highway and Highway 281 will have right turn lanes added in both directions. This means the road will be widened to accommodate.

So we have two through lanes in each direction along with turn lanes, Public Works Director John Collins said.

On the East side, there will be a roundabout added on Wilmar Avenue where many turn in to go to Hy Vee or Perkins. This is to deal with the projected population growth over the next ten years.

On the West side, since business along Old Potash will be impacted, Claude Road will be paved to give another point of access.

But this will become like a Webb Road in that one side will be highly commercial, the other side will probably be less used. Rather than people going up and down diers North-South they'll use claude, Collins said.

Diers Avenue will also be limited to right turns only since people turning left on to Old Potash cause a lot of backup. The road will be widened all the way to North Road where drivers will be met with another roundabout. The Old Potash project is projected to take until 2022 and will cost about $15 million.

Some of the money is coming from the gas tax revenue the city gets from the state each year and then to accelerate it the half cent tax is being used, Collins said.

With these improvements the city says old potash will become safer to drive on and save commuters a lot of time.

The bidding process for the Old Potash projects is set to begin in march. Collins said the first phases can begin as soon as this summer.

Other projects include:

-Asphalt resurfacing-Hwy 281 corridor signal timing optimization-Sycamore underpass - S Front St bridge deck replacement-Eddy St underpass and associated bridges-North Rd - 113th to Hwy 2 - Widen to 3-lane-North Rd - Old Potash to 13th - Widen to 3-lane-Capital Ave - Moores Creek to North Rd - Widen to 3-lane-Custer Ave - Forrest to Old Potash - Widen to 3-lane-Broadwell Ave/UPRR - Planning and Environmental-Locust St Reconstruction; Koeing St to Fonner Park Rd-Stolley Park Rd; State Fair Entrance to Stuhr Rd-Independence Ave; Capital Ave to Manchester/Macron

Originally posted here:

Grand Island moves forward with six-year road construction project plan - KSNB Local 4