Long-awaited project inching forward

The long-awaited Kimball underpass project is taking small baby steps forward as local residents along chose, and Kimball City Council members voted on, a final design for the historic underpass located on Chestnut Street.

The chosen design will feature a welcome sign to greet visitors from the north and a plaza to provide a gathering space on the south side of the underpass, at an estimated cost of $700,000, according to Kimball Mayor Keith Prunty.

The project, slated to be completed in 2017, has been in the works for more than a dozen years and the city plans on bidding the project to a contractor, this coming fall.

This project will require not only the City of Kimball, but the Nebraska Department of Roads, the Federal Highway Administration, the States Historic Preservation Office and the Historic Resources Group.

Engineering and design firms currently working on the renovation include M.C. Schaff & Associates and HDR, an architectural, engineering, and consulting firm that specializes in complex projects. Also helping with the project, the City of Scottsbluff Director of Public Works, Mark Bohl.

During a City Council meeting last summer, Kimball City Administrator Daniel Ortiz stated that the drainage issues with the heavy rains and the large puddles under the overpass were some reasons to move forward.

The underpass project was funded through a federal grant since the 2000, but was put on hold on more than one occasion due to funding issues.

“There is not much additional information to share other than the project is working through the environmental approval process with the State and Federal entities,” Ortiz said.