BROKEN BOW, Neb. – Road construction crews are closing in on the finish line in Broken Bow as the final layer of asphalt is being placed through town. The major Highway 2 improvement project, which has disrupted traffic for much of the summer, is expected to have paving completed by Tuesday night.
The work involves more than a standard highway overlay, according to Highway Project Manager Dan Lewandowski with the Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT). In Broken Bow, crews are paving full-width lanes from curb to curb, up to 48 feet wide, requiring multiple passes and more time than typical two-lane stretches.
High traffic volumes have added to the challenge, Lewandowski said, because of Broken Bow’s unique stretch of Highway 2 through town paired with Highways 21 and 70 coming to a dead end in town.
Once the final lift of asphalt is finished, crews will shift focus to adjusting sidewalks, ADA ramps, and highway islands to match the new pavement height. Painting of permanent road markings will begin on July 28.
“You see we’re putting in the little sticky tabs. We’re not painting it anymore because we don’t want paint that’s going to be conflicting with our brand new,” Lewandowski explained. “They do a thermoplastic paint. That’s what we apply. We’ll actually groove the road… and then we put our paint inside that groove mark. That way when they plow snow… it doesn’t scrape the paint off the highway.”
Also on July 28, construction will start on new turning lanes at the intersection of Highway 2 with Ryno Road and Callaway Road. That work will include shoulder removal and dirt preparation by Myers Construction, signaling the start of the Broken Bow to Merna project.
NDOT crews will briefly leave the area to do some paving in Wellfleet before returning to finish the section between Merna and Broken Bow. While some work remains, the must disruptive parts of the current phase are nearly complete, offering a light at the end of the orange-cone-filled tunnel for local drivers.
