Board will seek road bids

Residents along Old Highway 8 east of U.S. Highway 275 soon will be driving on something a little more solid when they drive into Fremont or to the freeway.

When Dodge County supervisors met Wednesday morning, they gave county highway superintendent Alan Doll authority to get bids on a project to put a hard surface on County Road 25, which runs parallel to U.S. 275 between Morningside Road and Old Highway 8 on the east side of the freeway.

Doll told supervisors that bids will be opened at

10:30 a.m. Dec. 17 for the project, which includes laying two ArmorCoat layers on the now white rock-covered stretch of roadway.

With early bids, the ArmorCoat project should be finished by the middle of June, Doll said, adding that the estimated cost of the project is around $40,000.

"This type of project usually begins around Memorial Day," he said. "A lot of times, these projects are let in March. By letting this early, we’re forcing contractors into coming in here early. I believe this will reiterate the fact that we have committed to doing this for the people who live out on Old Highway 8."

Supervisors approved the project 5-1. Supervisor Danny Stoeber was absent. Supervisor Dean Lux voted against it.

"This needs asphalt or paving," Lux said. "I don’t think ArmorCoat is going to last."

Earlier in the fall, some residents along Old Highway 8 complained about the condition of County Road 25 that was used only as a low-maintenance farm road for years until the Nebraska Department of Roads cut off Old Highway 8 access to Fremont with the near completion of the U.S. 275 freeway between Fremont and Omaha.

Residents complained about the dust created by traffic along the county road and by the driving conditions on the road.

Doll told them that he believed laying ArmorCoat would eliminate dust and create better driving conditions.

He also said Wednesday morning that the stretch of County Road 25 between Morningside Road and Old Highway 8 will be renamed so that it also carries the name Old Highway 8.

In another matter, supervisors approved another request by Doll to get bids to pave the last three-mile section of the Scribner-Herman Road that is still gravel.

Doll told supervisors that he anticipates construction on the project to start around April 1. It should be finished by Sept. 15.

Currently, the Scribner-Herman Road is paved for eight miles from Scribner east to U.S. Highway 77, where it becomes a gravel road for three miles to the Dodge/Washington County Line, where the road is paved again. The stretch of road from Herman in Washington County to the Dodge County line was paved in 1991.

"Hopefully, we get some good bids," Doll said. "A lot of contractors are looking for work right now, and concrete is at a good price."

A recent hurdle in the project has been getting Burt County Public Power District officials to have line crews move power line poles further outside the still gravel stretch of the road, Doll said, adding that crews have started moving the poles and should be finished by the time the construction part of the project starts.

This hurdle has forced bidding the project back a year, but Doll said he’s now ready to bid the paving project, estimated to cost about $1.5 million, including added culverts, concrete and paying for Burt County Public Power District to move its power line poles.

Former Dodge County Supervisor Loell Strand started crusading to have the final three miles of the Scribner-Herman Road in Dodge County paved in 1985, and his son, Lon, who took over his seat on the county board in January, has vowed to see the project completed. The senior Strand fought through years of budget constraints and debate over which projects to push back.