OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Driving along 84th Street can be busy but the closure of the 72nd Street bridge is causing daily traffic jams. Neighbors say rush hour is the worst.
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"It's like a parking lot during rush hour,” said Anne Hurley a Westgate neighbor.
Anne Hurley has lived in the area most of her life and has seen traffic increase recently.
"It's 10 times worse if not more, it's um, you know, they didn't use to back up more than 4 or 5 cars at the lights, but now it goes from Center Street clear the heck down," Hurley said.
Frustration, delays, and cars backed up several blocks.
"I’ve never had to wait more than one green light, but sometimes, it feels like you are not going to get through," said Terry Anderson, board member of the Westgate neighborhood association.
As the day got later, traffic got worse. This was around 3 p.m. Thursday.
"Evening rush hour certainly is considerable," Anderson said.
Work on the 72nd Street bridge started in January forcing drivers to find alternate routes to go north and south, making 84th Street one of those alternatives.
Neighbors like Hurley are concerned about safety.
"You can’t get across the street, and they don't stop when the light turns red, and they are stuck in the intersections then you can't pull out and it just becomes a nightmare," Hurley said.
Reporter Molly Hudson called the city to get an update on the work. They say they are on track to re-open two southbound lanes and one northbound lane on 72nd Street in May.
"We have limited any other construction activities on 84th, 60th, and 42nd to try to allow as much access as possible," said Steven Rue, capital construction and street maintenance engineer, City of Omaha.
And for now, neighbors like Terry and Anne say to plan ahead or just avoid the area.
"If I had a choice, I wouldn't use 84th Street, I wouldn't, I would go all the way down to 60th and backtrack,” Hurley said.
"It’s like a snowstorm, leave early, plan, plan ahead," Anderson said.
The city tells me they hope to have traffic on 72nd Street completely back open in November.
