Highway 81 four-lane Outlook

YANKTON, SD – The outlook is dim to make Highway 81 in northeast Nebraska a four-lane expressway. The segment in question is 57 miles between Norfolk and Yankton. Nebraska Department of Roads District Three Engineer Kris Winter says highway agencies are running into some financial roadblocks. She says over the last year, 1,000 fewer vehicles a day take to the road on this segment. She says they need a minimum count of 6,000 vehicles a day to justify a four-lane highway. Winter spoke this week at the annual meeting of the Pan American Highway Association in Yankton. The Association has been working for years to make Highway 81 a four-lane expressway from Mexico to Canada.