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These days it seems like only red ink flows from the gas and diesel pumps at Jim Johnson's convenience store along U.S. Highway 75 north of Nebraska City. Last month Gas N Go would have seen as many as 300 motorists pull in for fuel or food on a good day. Since March 31, when the state started replacing six miles of the two-lane highway between Nebraska City and Union, Johnson said, he might get 15 customers a day.

“People have asked if we're going to close,” Johnson said. “I've got good employees. You can't. You've got to keep your people.” Johnson and others who live and work along the highway said they are thankful for the $11 million replacement project. But they questioned why the Nebraska Department of Roads opted to work on both lanes of the road at once rather than keeping one lane open. Among their top concerns: access to homes and businesses in the event of a fire or medical emergency.

Roads officials said closing a two-lane highway happens rarely, and only as a last resort. That was the only option for the six miles of Highway 75, for engineering and budgetary reasons, said Tom Goodbarn, district engineer for the department.

“Closing a road is never a good thing, but it might have closed itself had we not done this,” Goodbarn said.

First responders assigned to the area have mapped out alternative routes to reach homes and businesses, but those routes will most likely involve gravel roads and single-lane bridges. Rescuers will do their best, but delays are almost inevitable, said Alan Viox, chief of the Nebraska City Volunteer Fire Department.

“We're hoping that nothing happens,” he said. “That would be the most ideal thing we could look at is nothing happens.” With a daily traffic count of about 4,000 vehicles, the stretch of Highway 75 between Omaha and Nebraska City ranks as a “moderately busy” thoroughfare, Goodbarn said. Traffic isn't heavy enough to warrant a four-lane expressway, which would have allowed lanes to remain open during construction.

The existing concrete has faulted badly, he said. Asphalt resurfacing, which costs about $6 million, lasts only about seven years, he said. Complete replacement of the pavement costs more but should last 30 to 40 years. To address the underlying problems, however, the ground beneath the pavement needs stabilisation and drainage, which require more space for crews to work, Goodbarn said, so the decision was made to close both lanes. The closure also means construction crews should be able to complete the project in about 5½ months, perhaps twice as fast as single lane replacement, Goodbarn said. The contract with Cedar Valley Corp. of Waterloo, Iowa, also includes incentive and disincentive clauses to get the work done on schedule. The department sent letters, held public meetings and tried to have a manager visit every business and residence affected by the project, Goodbarn said. The department wants to hear questions and concerns as the work continues, he added. One of Shawna Bennett's concerns emerged immediately after motorists looking for shorter detours ventured onto surrounding gravel roads. Bennett, who lives along the highway with her family, said she saw two cars in the ditch the morning after the highway closed.

“These roads have been really scary, with a lot of people on them that don't seem to know how to drive on gravel,” she said. The closest county road to Bennett's house is 1 mile north. So her recent commutes to work have involved slow, difficult driving over broken concrete and pulverised asphalt. She said she and her husband received a letter from the Roads Department that said they would have access all through the project. She assumed that meant an open lane or a temporary access road. Johnson, the convenience store owner, said he was told there would be an access road.

Goodbarn, the district engineer, said it's the job of the contractor to ensure access for people along the highway. The department did not promise an access road, he said. While road construction season will be more aggravating and stressful for people in the closed section of Highway 75, Bennett said she's hopeful it will all seem worth it in the end.
“I know if we're patient,” she said, “in the long run, we're going to have a good highway that's safe to drive on.”

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