Funding for, timing of 516 Avenue project may cause road block

While residents residing north of Clearwater don't have to ford the Elkhorn River to reach town, surface conditions of 516 Avenue, the main artery bridging highways 275 and 20 from south to north, have "deteriorated to conditions from 100 years ago."

That's the sentiment expressed to Antelope County Commissioners by multiple Clearwater residents.

"Has the road got any better in the last 100 years? That thing is back to the century of covered wagon days. Am I wrong or right?" Curt Thiele asked commissioners during a Feb. 6 meeting.

Commissioner Neil Williby agreed the road isn't in tip-top shape.

"It's going to get worse before it gets better this spring because we've had so much moisture," Williby said.

The District 1 commissioner said he had spoken with fellow commissioner Eli Jacob and road superintendent Aaron Boggs regarding the road's condition.

"I think we have something in place," Williby said, noting millings might be available that could be utilized.

"I'm not going to lie to you, it's going to be a project. You're going to be pissed. It's going to take awhile," Williby said.

Commissioner Charlie Henery said he wants to see the road return to hard surface.

"It's how we can do it and when we can do it that's the problem," Henery said.

Boggs offered three scenarios to return the two-mile stretch from Highway 275 to the cemetaries: concrete, asphalt and cold mix.

"The shock and awe numbers of it are probably not going to work," he said. Contractors estimate $2.1 million to concrete the stretch.

Highway superintendent Brian McDonald said that amount is for nine inches of concrete.

"You're going to have to go back to new and reconstructed standards, so you're going to have to redo the slide slopes, the grading part," McDonald said.

Commissioner Keith Heithoff, of Elgin, asked, "Is that the best bang for buck? That road is a swamp through there."

Henery explained that's why the former hard surface was removed.

"It's muddy when it's wet and dusty when it's dry," Henery said.

According to Boggs, the road base is good. It's the top three inches that are a problem.

McDonald said concrete would be the best bet with a 25-50 year lifespan, instead of asphalt or a cold mix overlay.

Boggs estimated $1.5 million for hot mix. That amount would not include profiling.

"My problem with the cold mix, and I don't disagree that it can be done, my problem is 10 years from now, we might be in the problem that started this whole thing. The traffic load they talk about is true," Boggs said.

He estimated $150,000 per mile for cold mix.

"I don't think cold mix is the answer. I don't think it'll hold up well," Boggs said.

Millings mentioned earlier in the conversation are spoken for, according to Boggs.

Time is the problem.

"If we do concrete, it'll be 2024 at the soonest," Boggs reported.

Thiele asked if some of the road will be fixed this spring.

A stretch in between bridges and the approach going north, for 300 feet, are first on the contractor's list, according to the road superintendent.

Thiele asked if the project could be extended another quarter mile north to 853 Road.

"Then in 2024, it would lessen the burden to go on further," Henery said.

The problem, according to Boggs, is money.

"My budget is super tight the way it is," he said.

"Every year we come in, we don't have the money, we don't have the money. There's got to be a way," Thiele said.

Merlin Bolling of Clearwater said the road needs to be lowered to relieve water.

McDonald said the two floods switched water flows.

"I'm afraid if you spend all the money on it, I'm not against fixing it, but I'm afraid it's going to wash it out," Bolling said.

Any mitigation for disasters on the road would be taken care of through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"I'm looking for a solution for now. By the time you profile it, it will be summer before we can bid. This budget, we don't have the money," Boggs said.

Henery said maybe some funding could come from the inheritance fund.

"It needs to happen and I feel concrete, with the amount of truck traffic we get on it. The people in my voting district by Neligh vote for me. But I represent the whole county. I represent the Clearwater people, the Tilden people, the Elgin people, whoever. If we do a bond for $2.1 million, that affects everyone in the county on that mile of road. What is the right decision for us, as commissioners, to make? I want the road. I want seven inches of concrete, we don't worry about it for 20 years. But, how do we come up with the funding to do that and I feel good we did it right. That we did it fair for everybody that I represent because I represent Antelope County," Henery said.

Thiele replied, "My guess is everyone you represent might use that road."

District 2 commissioner Eli Jacob said the county is spending $1 million on the road known as Copenhagen Road.

"It isn't even broken up," Jacob said. "Why don't we put that million down here?"

According to Boggs the Copenhagen Road is "shot."

"The oil is moving," Boggs said.

Henery asked Joe Thiele, who was sitting in the audience, for his thoughts.

Thiele said, "Isn't that interesting, asking a bunch of farmers out here what to do with the road? I have no road experience or education. Where's the person that goes out and knows what to do? Is that Brian McDonald's job? It seems like we experiment with all these ideas out there on our cost."

Henery said it could be two years before the project is finished.

After discussion about profiling and road standards, commissioners approved to have Brian McDonald begin surveying and profiling the road and to negotiate a change order with the contractor to extend work to the 853 Road intersection.