The section of 420th Road between Interstate 80’s Beaver Crossing Exit and Highway 34 has been a frequent topic of conversation at Seward County Board of Commissioner meetings.
But at the county’s Feb. 24 public hearing on roads projects, the as-yet-uncertain paving for its eastern counterpart at the Pleasant Dale Exit also got some attention.
The two road segments are the only Nebraska roads connecting the interstate to the next highway to the north that remain unpaved.
At the Seward County Commissioners’ public hearing for the 2026-27 One- and Six-year Road Plan, Dave Helge endorsed the idea of paving 154th Street at the Pleasant Dale exit. The project remains in the county’s six-year project list, but funding for such projects has been in short supply.
The board did not vote on whether to accept the plan after the public hearing.
The county recently received a $1 million commitment to go on top of an earlier award of $3 million for the road, leaving almost $4 million left to raise.
At the Feb. 24 meeting, Commission Chair Misty Ahmic said the grant application for around $3.5 million from the 2025 Better Utilizing Investment to Leverage Development (BUILD) funding would, if successful, allow completion of 5.5 miles of 420th Road between the exit and Highway 34.
Seward County Highway Superintendent Jon Regnier said the 154th Road project remains on the six-year list though state officials have had some questions due to sight issues at the intersection of 154th and Highway 34. Regnier said the county continues to talk with state engineers about the road.
Helge, who lives along 154th Road, said paving is desperately needed. Traffic is increasing and more housing is being added near 154th and Adams roads.
Road maintenance discussed
Dave Wagner, who lives on McKelvie near 182nd Road, spoke at the public hearing to ask that the county work on road maintenance and quality.
“Everybody who drives on them knows it’s ‘washboard city’,” Wagner said. “I think part of the solution is we need to blade our roads more often than we do. We are not keeping up on things.”
Wagner urged the county to consider hiring more high-quality equipment operators.
In a later interview, Regnier said keeping a full staff remains an issue for the county. His staff is now down two heavy equipment operators and one blade operator. He said he and the commissioners have been discussing how to best move forward with the department.
With a few exceptions, Regnier said the 2026-27 road plan is very similar to the current year’s. There are around a dozen culvert projects carrying over from this year because of weather last summer and fall.
Grading, culverts on list
“We are trying to get some grading projects – cleaning out ditches and redoing the road itself. We are trying to get some of that stuff done this year, too,” Regnier said in a later interview.
The application of an asphalt sealer on the 5.5-mile Matzke Highway between the interstate and Highway 34 at the Milford Exit has been added to the one-year plan.
Two box culverts were completed on Old Cheney Road for which the county will go back and regrade the road.
The state was placing a road dam on Branched Oak Road near 350th Road, and Regnier said that work, too, will continue.
In addition, Regnier said the county crews would like to work on Fletcher Road from 196th to 210th, which is now a minimum maintenance road.
Regnier said they would like to bring the road to standards and reopened this year. The road is dirt-surfaced, not graveled, and making Fletcher a maintained road would give residents on 196th Road another access in the winter when the hill becomes slick.
“There really was not much that changed from last year just due to all the rain we got. The projects are all the same,” Regnier said.
In the past year the department has worked on two projects that were part of the state’s 55% “bridge match” dollars. One bridge replacement remains underway west of 350th and Raymond Road, while a new bridge deck east of 266th and Branched Oak Road is done.
Planned work to preserve 336th Road (Missile Base Road) will be revamped this year due to the road’s deterioration, Regnier said. The department will work with an engineer to see what needs to be done and the project will be placed on the six-year list.
The Beaver Crossing bridge project and two projects on Old Cheney Road were also completed.
In other business at the county commissioners’ meeting Feb. 24, the board:
• Approved a permit for Baack Farms to put electrical line across 378th Road north of Old Mill Road in Township 11.
• Discussed how to more consistently hear reports from department heads, both appointed and elected, in upcoming meetings.
• Finalized the appointment of Megan Eckles as the county’s emergency management director and zoning assistant after approving a conditional appointment earlier.
• Approved a conditional use permit to upgrade or modify an existing wireless tower in Township 11 after no one spoke for or against its installation at a public hearing.
• Met in executive session to discuss personnel and potential litigation – which were listed as two separate items on the agenda, but which Ahmic said were related – for approximately 45 minutes.
