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North Shore and Highway 281 closes for traffic light work
The Nebraska Department of Transportation’s contractor - IES Commercial, Inc. of Holdrege moved to the intersection of U.S. Hwy 34/281 at North Shore Drive to pour the concrete foundation for a new traffic signal pole in the northeast quadrant of the intersection.
The traffic signals at the North Shore Drive intersection were taken out-of-service before 9 a.m., Monday, April 8.
The new traffic signal pole will accommodate a longer mast arm with a signal head for northbound left turning traffic. When the intersection traffic signal upgrade is completed, motorists on U.S. Hwy 34/281 at North Shore Drive will have flashing yellow left turn arrows. The project is also replacing all of the signal cable, installing a new controller, and adding antennas for interconnect.
According to the NDOT and contractor, the hope is to finish the North Shore Drive upgrade work and put the signals into temporary flash mode by Friday, April 12. The goal is to schedule the NDOT’s Traffic Signal Engineers to program the signals during the first part of the week of April 15. Once the signal is back in normal operation, the construction signs, barricades & cones will be removed and the intersection fully opened to all traffic.
The contractor removed the mast arm for northbound traffic and took down the pole. Signal heads for southbound traffic are now covered.
The northbound and southbound stop signs on East Osborne Drive have been removed for the duration of the traffic signal upgrade project to help move traffic along. The northbound and southbound stop signs on West Osborne Drive will remain.
The plan is to set a new pole in the northeast corner of the intersection on Monday, or a date soon after, and then hang a new mast arm.
A southbound left turn signal head will be added.
After wire is pulled for the signals and a new controller is in-place, the signals will be put into flash mode.
The hope is to have the signal in flash mode this week. The NDOT signal techs from Grand Island will check the signals out.
Then, NDOT traffic engineers will come out and program the controller and switch it to regular operation.
The contractor can then remove barricades, cones and signs and the intersection will reopen.
While the traffic signals are offline, North Shore Drive will remain open, but will be closed to the highway and there will be no traffic entering or exiting the highway at that intersection.
Published Date: 04/ 8/2024