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Burlington Ave. traffic signal work anticipated to resume Feb. 20
The Nebraska Department of Transportation’s contractor (IES Commercial, Inc. of Holdrege) is returning to Hastings to continue working on the Burlington Avenue traffic signal upgrade project that began in 2023.
IES is planning to re-start with work on the signals at the intersection of 14th Street and Burlington Avenue (U.S. Hwy 34/281) on Tuesday, Feb. 20. Work at each intersection is estimated to take two weeks. When the signal upgrade work at the 14th Street intersection is done, crews will move to another intersection on the project. IES will schedule the work so that two adjacent intersections are not taken out-of-service at the same time.
Interconnect is a separate project
With each intersection signal upgrade, the interconnection to other signalized intersections along Burlington Avenue will remain out-of-service. The interconnect project to switch from hard-wired connections to radio interconnect is scheduled for spring of 2024, following follow IES’s signal upgrade project.
Traffic Signal work at 14th & Burlington Ave (US Hwy 34/281)
The left turn signal heads for all four approaching left turn movements were all replaced in 2023. The new signal heads would not communicate with the existing controller, so vehicle detection at the intersection was turned off. The interconnection to the other Burlington Ave signals was also lost.
The signals will be shut down and work zone traffic control will remain in place till the intersection signal upgrade is complete and signal engineers with the NDOT program the new controller.
Upgrade work will include replacing all signal cable, installing a new controller, and adding an antenna for radio interconnect.
Once operational, the four new left turn signal heads will restore the left turn arrows for protected left turns for all traffic approaching the intersection.
Work Zone Traffic Control for intersection of 14th Street & Burlington Ave (US Hwy 34/281)
Changes to work zone traffic control plan were made based upon the experience with the earlier intersections along the project. When the traffic signals are taken out-of-service for the upgrade, work zone traffic control will consist of the following:
Traffic on Burlington Ave will NOT BE ABLE TO TURN LEFT onto 14th Street.
Traffic on 14th Street will NOT BE ABLE TO TURN LEFT onto Burlington Avenue.
Traffic on 14th Street will NOT BE ABLE TO CROSS Burlington Avenue.
Consider Alternate Routes
The City and NDOT realize this will push traffic to other intersections along Burlington Avenue. Motorists are encouraged to use the signalized intersections along Burlington, consider other alternate travel routes, or plan for additional time to safely reach your destination. And, as always, please drive with caution through work zones for your safety, safety of other motorists, and safety for roadway workers. Please see attached map for ideas on alternate routes to consider.
Communication
While it’s not a City project, we will continue to help the NDOT get the word out in as many ways as we can such as social media, newspaper, TV, Radio, and press releases.
Published Date: 02/19/2024