FAIRBURY – An important stretch of road that runs east-to-west between Fairbury and Diller could finally be receiving some much-needed renovations – but officials won’t be given the green light on a repaving project until a couple more boxes get checked.  

Drivers on the PWF Road between Fairbury and Diller can expect to see speed reductions in the next few weeks, and full on road reconstruction in the next few months.  

About half a dozen years ago, the Fairbury side of this well-traveled road was reconstructed, and everything still runs smoothly until PWF intersects with 575th Avenue a few miles west of Highway 103 in Diller. At that point, there’s a decided drop-off in road quality, with plenty of patches and other blemishes that have cropped up across the miles and over the years.  

That causes hazardous conditions for drivers of all kinds of vehicles, especially for those with bigger payloads, and especially once it starts to get colder quicker and darker sooner. The speed limit through most all of the PWF Road is 55 miles per hour, but the Jefferson County highway department says that in the next few weeks, that will be dropped to 40 miles per hour for a stretch of seven to eight miles to help prevent issues and increase safety.  

That slowdown will persist until the construction is complete. The county is advising commuters to be cautious when driving through the area now, and asking for patience when driving through the area once construction eventually begins. 

Top highway officials Jason Eyer and Terry Blas stressed that they’re well aware of the widespread issues affecting this stretch of road. And that mandatory speed reduction is also going to help set the stage for a widescale repaving of the final stretch of that road – a project that will start as soon as next summer, they hope.  

What’s dampening those hopes is an outstanding environmental study that’s operated by Olsson, a national organization that helps municipalities across the country plan projects such as this. These studies help to ensure that no endangered plant or animal species might be in harm’s way, or that the projects don’t affect historic sites such as burial grounds.  

A noble cause, but one that is delaying any potential start to this renovation – the county and the department petition for and accept bids for a project like this, much less establish a timeline for its completion, until this study is completed and returned. The county executed a similar survey before the first part of the PWF Road was renovated six-plus years ago, and has now been stuck waiting for the results of this rendition of the report for months. 

But this week, news arrived that will place some potential potholes on the pathway towards those renovation plans. On Tuesday morning, county officials and the highway department received a bill from the Nebraska Department of Transportation for more than $88,000, which they believed meant that their long-awaited environmental study had been completed.  

But it turns out, that’s not the case. That invoice from Olsson and the NDOT covers the full cost of the environmental study operation, even though it’s still in process – a total which the Jefferson County commissioners fairly refused to front until they’re able to see some full results. 

"They haven’t done the work yet,” County Commissioner Mark Schoenrock stressed on a phone call with Denise Rice, the NDOT’s cost accounting manager, during Tuesday morning’s weekly board meeting. “We’re trying to be responsible manager of our taxpayer funds. We are elected officials trying to accomplish that objective. And for us to pay $44 thousand for work that has not been completed yet, that flies in the face of all fiscal responsibility. We’re more than willing to pay for the work that’s been accomplished, but it’s not reasonable for Jefferson County to pay for work that hasn’t been accomplished yet.” 

Working together with Rice, instead of the county fronting the entire total of nearly $90 thousand now, the commissioners reached an agreement to pay a total of $55 thousand, which would cover the expenses of the work already theoretically completed plus consideration for upcoming work done in December. When more progress is made, more money will be paid. 

And when that study is completed, the county and the highway department would then have the green light to begin the first phases of the road renovation plan, which they are hoping to begin in earnest in the middle of next year – but until then, updates on that potential start date will have to wait.