OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — The 63-year-old 72nd and L Street bridge will be demolished Thursday night, closing 72nd street for five days as crews mechanically break down the aging structure.
- Starting early this week, L Street will condense to one lane in each direction from 78th to 67th Street.
- For local businesses like Margarita's Mexican Restaurant, the extended closure presents challenges for customer access.
- NDOT says the entire project should be complete by next fall.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
A 63-year-old bridge at 72nd and L Street in central Omaha will be demolished this week, bringing significant traffic disruptions to the area.
Starting early this week, L Street will condense to one lane in each direction from 78th to 67th Street. Then on Thursday night, 72nd Street from M Plaza to J Street will close for nearly five days to allow the Nebraska Department of Transportation to remove the aging bridge.
"All the surrounding areas are gonna be a mess for a while," said Brayan Valadez, manager of Margarita's Mexican Restaurant nearby.
The removal won't involve dynamite. Instead, crews will mechanically break down the bridge piece by piece in a process construction workers call "chewing," using heavy equipment rather than explosives.
For local businesses like Margarita's Mexican Restaurant, the extended closure presents challenges for customer access.
"We're kind of worried about when it comes to people coming in and how they're gonna be able to access our restaurant," Valadez said.
"We get phone calls quite a bit now like, hey, are you guys still open? We just wanna make sure because you know the whole construction like, yeah, we're open. We're not gonna close. I don't see why we would closed," he said.
NDOT says 80% of taking down a bridge is cleanup, which is why 72nd will have to close for nearly a week. L Street will remain open during that time, with traffic shifted onto temporary pavement.
Despite the challenges, Valadez says crews have moved quickly on the work so far.
"I'm impressed on how quick they got to the ramps because that's what they shut off first. They closed that and then they got to work pretty quick on those," he said.
Once demolition wraps up, lane restrictions will stay in place through next fall. NDOT says the entire project should be complete by this time next year.
