COLUMBUS - A representative of the Nebraska Department of Roads battled it out with some local property owners who would be affected by a road project at the intersection of Eighth Street and 33rd Avenue.
The property owners had requested a meeting with the department representatives to air grievances and to get more information.
Although some city council members do not support the venture, they worry pulling out of the contract could affect future projects with the state.
The project - determined necessary by a 1997 study and locked in by a 1999 contract with the state - will straighten out the intersection and fix the roadway along U.S. Highway 81, and was the subject of a Committee of the Whole meeting Monday evening.
Roadway Design Engineer Eldon Poppe drew the brunt of criticism from Kat's Car Wash owner Alan Davis, who said the proposed sidewalk behind the bays on west Eighth Street will inhibit people from entering and exiting easily.
Davis said the sidewalk is unnecessary due to the lack of pedestrians in the area. However, Poppe said it would be hard to find an engineer who would sign off on the project if cars were allowed to back up into the street, where people could be walking.
Currently, the city allows Davis to use its right of way to back out into the street from the car wash. No pedestrian has yet been hit, Davis argued, nor is the area accident prone.
Davis and Godfather's Pizza owner Robert Kuta have repeatedly complained about a lack of communication from the state department, including unanswered and unreturned phone calls to Lincoln.
Davis pointed out that, although the design phase is almost complete and the project is to be let in March, designers were only recently aware that his car wash bays were not drive throughs, and must be backed out of.
Kum & Go owner Mary Wojcik said she was having trouble negotiating the moving of a pole on her property, which she alleged the state said it would take by condemnation when it found out how much it would cost to move it.
The project is meant to prepare for the future increase in traffic along Highway 81, and the contract was approved between the state and the city before many of the current council members had been elected.
"We've gone a considerable way with this project," Poppe began, noting that, of the 15 tracts of land purchased for the project, only three owners have expressed an interest to sell willingly, but until they have committed, their names will not be released. Poppe said that was not "completely unusual."
He said the dogleg across the highway on Eighth Street is a safety hazard, and the signal lights do not allow traffic to flow properly because of it. The plans call for west Eighth Street to be moved north.
Poppe said business entrances off the highway are part of the safety problem.
"We feel we have worked as best we can and gotten the best access possible for them," Poppe said, noting that the design is not final but it is hard to make everyone happy.
Councilman James Bulkley was adamant that traffic, both pedestrian and vehicular, was not going to increase along west Eighth Street, making the sidewalk blocking Kat's Car Wash unnecessary.
"I guarantee the people of Columbus do not want to spend money on west Eighth Street," Bulkley said.
Because it is a city road, the city would be financially responsible for the improvements on Eighth Street, but the Highway 81 improvements, including the intersection and the signal lights, will be an 80/20 split with the state paying the lion's share.
However, Poppe said the state will not fund any of the project if the city makes unauthorized changes to Eighth Street, even though it is a city road.
He also referred to the "nasty subject of that signed city agreement," and said it is his personal opinion the city would have trouble getting any more road projects with the state if they were to back out of this.
The state has already paid about $250,000 thus far on the project.
"I've worked here for 38 years and this has never happened," Poppe said of the city's adverse reaction to the road works.
Reach Heather Koontz at 563-7528 or hkoontz@columbustelegram.com.
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