BLAIR, Neb. (KMTV) — Blair explores north bypass to reduce truck traffic downtown. South bypass helped but neighbors want more relief from converging highways.
- "We just have to deal with it for now because there's no other options," said one Blair neighbor.
- The city is in the earliest stages of planning, with environmental review work already underway.
- Video shows truck traffic on Washington Street.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Blair is exploring a second bypass route to further reduce heavy truck traffic rumbling through its downtown business district, though the project could take five to six years to get off the ground.
The city opened a south bypass in September 2024 that helped divert some traffic from the downtown area where four major highways converge: Highway 75, Highway 30, Highway 91, and Highway 133. However, neighbors and business owners say more relief is needed.
"With the bypass out there, that's reduced some of it, but they're still using the Main Street on Washington," said John Mann, whose family has operated Jim and Connie's Blair Bakery on 17th and Washington for nearly 36 years.
The proposed north bypass would connect Highway 30 to Highway 75, routing farm and freight traffic around downtown instead of through it.
"There's a lot of farmers and trucks going to Cargill from north, from Takema and Herman and places like that so if we can kind of capture those guys coming into town on the north side and route them around downtown that's all the better for the downtown businesses," said CJ Heaton, Blair's deputy city administrator of public works.
The city is in the earliest stages of planning, with environmental review work already underway. However, significant challenges remain.
"There's a creek that runs north of Blair that we may end up having to reroute to have enough room to fit the road in and then you have the railroad to work with," Heaton said.
Blair neighbor Linda Woodring acknowledges the current south bypass is "helping to some extent" but supports the additional north route.
"It would be nice in a year or two, but there's too many environmental impacts that have to be considered, so… we just have to deal with it for now because there's no other options," Woodring said.
Mann agrees that two bypasses would benefit the community more than one.
"Well, one is good, I think two would be great," Mann said.
City officials are asking neighbors to remain patient as the planning process continues, noting it will be several more years before a final route is determined.
