The end date for Milford’s Highway 6 construction project has been pushed to the beginning of November due to heavy rain during the summer.
The project, which is being paid for by state and federal grants, began April 1 and was originally scheduled to be finished in mid-October, said Bob Hinrichs, highway project manager for Nebraska.
“It's just been a little unusual summer to have this much moisture and not to have the subgrade firm enough to put the concrete on top of it,” Milford maintenance superintendent Gary TeSelle said. “It would just fail again if they didn't take the time and do the diligence to get that all firmed up and make sure it's all strong enough to support the concrete.
“It just will make the road last way longer by them taking their time with this.”
The Nebraska Department of Transportation is reconstructing the mile of highway going from one end of town to the other with nine-inch doweled concrete and widening the highway by six feet on either side.
It is also installing new storm sewer lines, water lines, gas lines, sidewalks, driveways, street lights, curb and gutter.
TeSelle said the lower part of the road from Second Street to Walnut Street was the toughest section of the construction to complete. Everything else has gone pretty smoothly. This week, the workers will pave from B Street to Walnut Street and tear up from B Street to D Street to prepare it for paving.
“We're almost to a point now where the road narrows up a little bit, and we'll be using a paver that'll be able to pave both eastbound and westbound traffic at the same time, so that'll cut down on some time,” Hinrichs said.
TeSelle said Milford has an agreement with the state to maintain the section of the highway that runs through town and gets a small amount of money for fixing potholes and other upkeep. He said the road was at the end of its life, and he is looking forward to not having so many maintenance issues to worry about, especially during the winter months, now that the road will be redone.
“The city is also going to gain about four blocks of new water main to just enhance the rest of our water main project that we did last year,” TeSelle said. “Also the curb and guttering that will be on it will help keep water out of people's yards. People that have low spots in driveways and all those kind of things will not be a problem anymore as well.”
Hinrichs said NDOT understands the inconvenience that comes when construction restricts access to certain roads and blocks some people from parking in front of their homes and is gracious to the Milford people for how understanding they have been.
He said he knows that, in the end, the project will be a great improvement to the town and will benefit the people of Milford, especially those who live along the highway.
“When we started here, I know that the city had gone through a couple years of other utility work throughout the city, so they kind of knew what that involved,” Hinrichs said. “I didn't know how it was really going to go when we're tearing another part up for the people in Milford, but it's been pretty good, really. The people have been understanding and worked with us on closures and different roads that have been shut down.”
