Unofficial O Street detours are busy
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BY KENDRA WALTKE / Lincoln Journal Star
Lisa Robeson waited 12 minutes Thursday for a train at South Second and J streets — time she didn’t have to wait before the Harris Overpass closed for reconstruction.
Certainly, she could have taken one of the two official detours to carry traffic from downtown to West O Street.
But her home is just across this railroad crossing, so most days she gambles and takes this way, hoping for no trains.
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The Harris Overpass is coming down slowly but on schedule, and work has moved west of Seventh Street and the Haymarket, said Larry Duensing, project manager for the Harris Overpass.
The whole bridge may be down before Christmas, he said.
A covered walkway crossing Eighth Street under where the bridge had been was expected to open Saturday.
Work crews will start laying the foundations for the columns that hold up the new bridge next week in the Eighth Street area.
Emergency vehicles
Emergency vehicles are getting around the Harris closure well, said Lincoln Fire Chief Niles Ford.
"Every Tuesday at 7:30 a.m., we evaluate our response times in the Harris Overpass area and make modifications," Ford said.
So far, "We have had no significant response problems."
Lincoln Fire & Rescue has a fire station on each side of what was the Harris Overpass.
"Things we have put in place have been successful," Ford said.
That includes putting an extra ambulance near central Lincoln during peak hours, because the station on the west side sometimes answered calls there. "We were worried, just like anyone else. Knock on wood, we're doing reasonably well," Ford said.
Driving at 5: A test
The two official detours — tested at 5 p.m., and just after 5 p.m. — proved a smooth ride. Traffic moved well through the lights.
The test on Thursday showed the south detour, from Ninth and L streets to Rosa Parks Way to U.S. 77 and then West O, took seven minutes.
The north detour, from 10th and O streets to Cornhusker Highway, to North First Street and then Sun Valley Boulevard, also took about seven minutes.
This time, no luck.
She turned off her car at 4:09 p.m. Thursday and waited.
A dozen cars stacked up behind her on J Street, a gravel road that’s become a de facto detour between downtown and West O, but one the city strongly advises against taking for safety reasons.
On paper it’s the shortest way, but it crosses track after track, and these rail lines are busy. The road is curvy and gravel and not made to handle this kind of traffic.
Two official detours are set: The south route takes Rosa Parks Way to U.S. 77 to West O Street. The north route takes 10th Street to Cornhusker Highway to First Street to Sun Valley Boulevard.
A test by two Lincoln Journal Star staffers showed the traffic moved efficiently, and the detour took no more than a few minutes.
But people still choose to take this shorter route, even given the extreme likelihood of trains.
As Robeson waited on Thursday afternoon, six cars could be seen cutting around the cross arms at First and J streets. Cars at both crossings lined up.
Finally the train passed and the neighborhood swarmed with cars.
And finally, Robeson was home.
But just that fast, the cross arms go down again and the cars line up.
“It’s taken me an hour and 20 minutes to get across before,” she said, partly because of congestion and partly because trains often come back-to-back.
Taking either of the two official detour routes would add 20 minutes and five miles to her commute, she said. So she does go this way.
But she and her husband, Lyle, are worried about the traffic.
The congestion is bad enough that they no longer let their youngest daughter walk by herself to a friend’s house.
Why?
Watch that driver in the front of the line change his mind and try a U-turn. He’s not even looking, Robeson points out from her driveway.
Watch that semi try to make the tight turn over the tracks, and see the cars inch back to let it by.
And see how many people could be watching her daughters play in the front yard, bored as they wait?
Robeson has a tolerant nature about it; “It’s going to go on for a year; what can you do?” she said.
“We’re used to no traffic here at all and now it’s busy all the time.”
Lyle wonders what will happen when J Street turns icy.
“In the winter, it’s treacherous even without the traffic,” he said.
It’s a gamble but not a crime
City officials have urged drivers to stick to the approved detours. Those roads were upgraded to handle the 26,000 cars that once crossed Harris Overpass, and traffic lights are monitored to make the traffic move along.
But taking a different way, such as J Street, is not illegal.
Sgt. Dan Schmidt, who handles traffic enforcement for the Lincoln Police Department, said it has added units in the First and J area. The police can give tickets for speeding or cutting around cross arms, but not for avoiding the official detours.
“The bottom line is, we can’t prevent people from driving down a city street,” Schmidt said.
“This happens to us all over town. When people don’t take the proper detours we get complaints from neighbors about speed and volume,” he said.
But J Street is still a poor choice. It has that curve and train tracks and the gravel kicks up dust, he said.
“It could create a dangerous situation,” he said.
The train schedule
The trains will keep coming, even as the Harris Overpass is demolished and rebuilt across the tracks over the next year.
Bridge contractor Cramer & Associates is working closely with Burlington Northern, said Kris Humphrey, design project manager for the Harris Overpass Project.
Work will be done between trains, or during “work windows” of a few hours, she said. The railroad does have a special worker on duty to make sure the trains are held if any danger is detected or any tracks are damaged.
Humphrey said the city also received a complaint about increased traffic on Charleston Street in the North Bottoms neighborhood. That street is narrow and has cars parked along it, she said.
“The official detours were chosen for a reason and we emphasize drivers should take those routes.”
Reach Kendra Waltke at 473-7303 or kwaltke@journalstar.com.
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