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Residents urge stricter controls on Broad Street traffic as council weighs options
Summary
Residents described heavy truck volumes, engine braking and safety risks on Broad Street and urged lower speed limits, new stop controls and better enforcement; council members and staff discussed jurisdictional limits, state sign refusals and enforcement challenges and proposed forming a small working group to seek practical solutions.
At a council study session, multiple Fremont residents urged the city to take stronger steps to reduce heavy truck impacts and improve safety on Broad Street (Highway 77).
Don Atwell, who has lived at 1650 North Broad Street for more than 45 years, asked the council to lower the speed limit on North Broad to 25 miles per hour and to install four-way stops at Linden, 16th and 19th Streets. “Isn’t it reasonable to invest $62,000,000 of taxpayer money on a roadway designed specifically to relieve traffic … to see no appreciable reduction in traffic,” Atwell said, describing continued heavy volumes and surface-deterioration that have affected nearby homes. Other residents reported counting multiple tractor-trailers per minute during light periods, frequent jake braking, and safety problems for pedestrians and children.
City staff and council members discussed legal and logistical constraints. Dan Gillis, director of public works, emphasized that Broad Street is listed in the city’s comprehensive plan and that a relinquishment agreement with the state gives the city design and maintenance jurisdiction but that the state retains title and can retake the right-of-way if it is no longer used as a highway. “We do have to coordinate with the state and federal highway administration depending on what it is we wanted to do,” Gillis said.
City administrator Jody Sanders and other staff reported that the Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) declined at least one request to place additional signs on the new bypass, citing concerns about “sign fatigue.” Chief Jeff Elliott told council members that enforcement is constrained primarily by limited manpower and by street geometry that complicates stopping and turning a patrol vehicle. “The single biggest issue we have is the lack of manpower,” Elliott said.
Council members proposed several near-term steps: improving coordination with NDOT to place advisory signage at jurisdictional boundaries, conducting targeted special enforcement events when staffing allows, researching a dual speed-limit approach (different limits for passenger vehicles and large trucks), and forming a small informal working group that would include council members, staff, a Broad Street representative and a business representative to develop recommendations. Several council members emphasized that completely eliminating truck traffic was not realistic but that a “middle ground” should be pursued.
The city’s ongoing Safe Streets study (JEO), due to conclude this summer, will provide additional crash analysis and candidate projects for traffic calming and pedestrian improvements along the corridor. Residents and members of the business community pledged to continue outreach; council members asked staff to continue pursuing NDOT contacts and to report back with recommended next steps.
