The motoring public will be happy to hear repairs have been completed to the northbound span of the 10th Street / Broadway river bridge, and it’s now open for traffic.
The bridge closed in late July for repairs to the concrete on the bridge deck that had deteriorated over decades of use.
The re-opening suffered from two slight delays, the first caused by vandalism when someone drove on some of the new fresh concrete, and the second when hidden damage was discovered during repairs to the bridge joints, increasing the amount of work required for a proper fix.
The western span will be closing by December for much more extensive repairs that are expected to take about a year to complete, and that closure will force southbound traffic from Scottsbluff to use either Five Rocks Road, 21st Avenue or Highway 71/Heartland Expressway to get into Gering.
County Roads Superintendent Steve Baird recently told county commissioners he looked into allowing two-way traffic on the eastern span of the 10th Street/Broadway bridge during the next set of repairs, however, construction experts and officials in both communities said it was not proper due to concerns for the safety of motor vehicle traffic and pedestrians.
