The Nebraska Department of Transportation is planning to start work next week on a project to widen Interstate 80 to six lanes west of Lincoln.
The department said in a news release Monday that, weather permitting, work will start April 1 on the project, which will add a lane to each direction of I-80 from Northwest 56th Street to the Pleasant Dale exit.
In addition to widening the interstate to six lanes on the 7.6-mile stretch of road, the project will include reconstructions of the overhead bridges at Northwest 84th, 98th, 112th and 126th streets, as well as grading, culvert and electrical work. Crews also will reconstruct the Nebraska 103 interchange.
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The department said in the news release that I-80 will remain open during the daytime with reduced speeds, and there will be occasional nighttime closures to accommodate work. According to an NDOT project notification sheet, the project will require approximately eight nighttime closures of either the eastbound or westbound lanes, but never both at the same time.
More than 40,000 cars and trucks travel that stretch of I-80 daily, and that number is expected to rise to more than 52,000 by 2044, according to the department.
Hawkins Inc. of Omaha is the contractor on the $116 million project, which is expected to be completed by November 2026. It is the first part of a long-term plan to make I-80 six lanes from Lincoln to Grand Island.
Vehicles drive on Interstate 80 near the Northwest 56th Street bridge in Lincoln last July. The Nebraska Department of Transportation said Monday that it will start work next week on a project to widen I-80 from four to six lanes on a 7.5-mile stretch from Northwest 56th Street to the Pleasant Dale exit.