West Dodge Road is now open at 228th Street, just west of the Elkhorn River.The Nebraska Department of Transportation said on average, 25,000 people drive on the stretch passing the 228th Street exit, in both directions. That hasn't been the case since March 15, when the worst of the historic flooding tore through miles of pavement.Just weeks ago, the roads were impassable. As crews picked up more barricades, more drivers finally ventured down the road. Governor Pete Ricketts and NDOT made the announcement Monday afternoon, standing on a recently reopened exit ramp. Hawkins Construction and NDOT partnered to expedite reconstruction and open the roadway three weeks ahead of schedule.Chris Hawkins, chief operating officer of Hawkins Construction, said his crews were ready to work as soon as he got the call from NDOT. " probably about four dozen or so people, collectively. 10,000 or so man hours in total with zero accidents," Hawkins said.Hawkins and NDOT district engineer Tim Weander said all parties knew what had to be fixed first. Pavement was undermined causing segments of roadway to drop three feet in places."Concrete pavement panels, columns, were tipped up. We had to remove those. We crushed that concrete," Hawkins said."We lost about a half mile of paving in the east bound direction - about a half mile, little more," Weander said.Weander said, with the stretch now open, drivers won't have to take more detours through areas that weren't built for so much traffic, including Waterloo and Elkhorn."It was stressing Waterloo. Elkhorn area was getting stressed because of Highway 31 up to Highway 64. We are just ecstatic that we're finally open and people can get back to normal - at least on one of their commuter routes," Weander said.

West Dodge Road is now open at 228th Street, just west of the Elkhorn River.

The Nebraska Department of Transportation said on average, 25,000 people drive on the stretch passing the 228th Street exit, in both directions.


That hasn't been the case since March 15, when the worst of the historic flooding tore through miles of pavement.

Just weeks ago, the roads were impassable. As crews picked up more barricades, more drivers finally ventured down the road.

Governor Pete Ricketts and NDOT made the announcement Monday afternoon, standing on a recently reopened exit ramp.

Hawkins Construction and NDOT partnered to expedite reconstruction and open the roadway three weeks ahead of schedule.

Chris Hawkins, chief operating officer of Hawkins Construction, said his crews were ready to work as soon as he got the call from NDOT.

"[It took] probably about four dozen or so people, collectively. 10,000 or so man hours in total with zero accidents," Hawkins said.

Hawkins and NDOT district engineer Tim Weander said all parties knew what had to be fixed first. Pavement was undermined causing segments of roadway to drop three feet in places.

"Concrete pavement panels, columns, were tipped up. We had to remove those. We crushed that concrete," Hawkins said.

"We lost about a half mile of paving in the east bound direction - about a half mile, little more," Weander said.

Weander said, with the stretch now open, drivers won't have to take more detours through areas that weren't built for so much traffic, including Waterloo and Elkhorn.

"It was stressing Waterloo. [The] Elkhorn area was getting stressed because of Highway 31 up to Highway 64. We are just ecstatic that we're finally open and people can get back to normal - at least on one of their commuter routes," Weander said.