The Nebraska Department of Roads is holding meetings today in Gering and tomorrow in Alliance on a pair of big Panhandle projects.

The Gering meeting is an open house from 4-6 in the Civic Center on a proposed viaduct on Highway 92 over the Union Pacific railroad west of Scottsbluff while the Alliance is a combination open house-public hearing on widening Highway 385 to 4 lanes between Alliance and the L-62A junction south of Angora as part of the Heartland Expressway.

The Alliance meeting is in downtown Alliance at Newberry’s and will in two parts: an open house format from 5-6:30, then a half-hour public forum ending at 7:00.

District 5 Engineer Craig Lind says the viaduct is scheduled for construction between 2016 and 2020 about three quarters of a mile west of the North Platte River bridge and a little over a mile from the Riverview Golf Course and will be paid for by train taxes and other funding.

Lind says there are fewer right-of-way conflicts than on most projects with discussions involving a few landowners and the Nebraska State Historical Society for the Fort Mitchell Historical Site south of Highway 92.

Widening of Highway 385 as part of the Heartland Expressway is a long-standing goal of Panhandle leaders, and regional planner Daniel Bennett of PAAD…the Panhandle Area Development District…says this project looks to be a go because it’s part of the state’s latest 5-year highway plan and has a favorable recommendation in the draft version of its environmental assessment.

Personnel from the Nebraska Department of Roads will be available at both the Gering and Alliance meetings to answer questions and receive comments about the respective projects.

The department is also still taking public comment on the draft Environmental Assessment for two more weeks, ending on Thursday October 16. Comments may be made online at the NDOR website www.transportation.nebraska.gov.