Residents Pack Public Forum to Oppose Three‑Lane Conversion of Highway 77

Mayor Robert Morgan opened Monday's Beatatric City Council meeting with a prepared statement summarizing the city's 2025 safety action plan and the council's prior recommendation to study converting Highway 77 to a three‑lane configuration as a safety measure. Morgan said the Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) controls the final timeline and design, that the project would not begin before 2028 at the earliest, and that the city will share public feedback with NDOT.

The public forum that followed drew more than a dozen residents who overwhelmingly urged the council and NDOT to preserve the highway's four lanes. David Raburn criticized council members' silence during public comment and insisted residents deserve a dialogue rather than procedural nonresponse: "The open meeting act says that the council cannot enact a decision at the open forum...The least you could do is be attentive when I'm talking."

Other speakers emphasized traffic volumes, truck use and business access. James Nelson, who reviewed city and NDOT counts, said posted NDOT counts for some Highway 77 locations were as high as 18,290 vehicles per day in 2024 and argued that earlier planning documents showed consistently higher traffic on Sixth Street. "I would strongly encourage that if positions have changed, the council's official recommendation should change along with them," Nelson said, urging council members who had reconsidered to place the matter back on the agenda for a revote.

Local residents with road and emergency-response experience disagreed with the three‑lane proposal. Billy Hoffling said NDOT engineers told him that traffic in the busiest segments exceeds 20,000 vehicles per day and that maintaining four lanes "supports current demand and positions us for future growth." Tow operator Mike Zarbaniki and others warned that a center turn lane could complicate crash responses and increase head‑on and turning conflicts.

Speakers also offered alternatives: improved street lighting, targeted turn lanes at problem intersections, adjusted signal timing and phased funding approaches for costly structures (such as viaducts). Several commenters said the council and staff should provide clearer access to the safety plan and related traffic counts; James Nelson noted the plan and supporting traffic data were not available online in advance of the council meeting.

Mayor Morgan closed public comment by saying the council would provide NDOT with the meeting's recording so the state agency receives the community's feedback. No council action was taken at the meeting; any formal changes would be driven by NDOT's planning and approval process.

The council adjourned at 7:11 p.m.; the next meeting is scheduled for May 18, 2026 at 6 p.m.