WISNER, Neb. -- At Wisner-Pilger High School on Thursday, the Nebraska Department of Transportation held a public meeting to address their new plan of expansions to Highway 275. 

“The four-lane, of course, would increase mobility, safety, access,” said Northeast Nebraska District Engineer Kevin Domogalla.  "The efficient movement of people and goods throughout the corridor here. The expressway has been an important part of the Nebraska Department of Transportation Plan. And this is one another step to go ahead and complete that between Norfolk and Omaha.”

The purpose of the meeting was to address the public on the future plans, take comments without rebuttal and re-evaluate before moving into the final design. 

“We're looking at expanding the highway to a four lane facility, building two lanes adjacent to the existing lanes, resurfacing the existing lanes to utilize that asset we have there,” Domogalla said.  

The new expressway is supposed to expand Highway 275 from Wisner to mile marker 86 near Stanton. 

“I don't foresee any real controversy,” Domogalla said. “We came out earlier in 2019 and presented some of the information we had at that time, gathered information, took a lot of that into account and now we're here to get public input comments on what we're where we're at right now.” 

However, many people showed up to the meeting to address their concerns about potential safety hazards, as well as suggesting new ideas to fix the original design. 

“That is not safe, plain and simple. It's not safe,”  said Nebraska resident, Martin Schwartz. “They're not built big enough. It slows down progress and slows down traffic. The whole point of an expressway system is to expedite our travel.”

One safety hazard mentioned was the use of “J-turns” instead of over passes. Concerned citizens expressed how dangerous that could make crossing lanes if you are operating a semi-truck. 

“It looks to me like rural Nebraska should just take whatever scraps are leftover,” Schwartz said. “Omaha, Lincoln and Fremont get what they want, or need. We should get what we want in need as well. We're paying the same taxes. We pay the same tax per gallon as everybody else in this state.” 

An additional detail about the highway expansion is that it still passes through small towns, as places like Iowa and Minnesota built their expressways around small towns to become more efficient.

“People aren't stopping in these little towns on their way to Omaha like they did in 1950 or 1960,” Schwartz said. "That's not happening. The only reason people are stopping is if they need gas, or they're gonna go to a convenience store."

There are still many details to be hashed out before the final design is complete. NDOT says they take all public comments and considerations seriously.