|
The very road that made the Conoco Cafe is the very road that will cause the cafe's ultimate demise.
The Conoco Cafe at 2109 W. Second St. is scheduled to be demolished this week to make way for the widening of Second Street.
"It's the most traveled street in Grand Island," said Scott Griepenstroh, the project manager for the Nebraska Department of Roads.
A total of 18,400 vehicles travel daily on Second Street between Broadwell and Greenwich Street. To better accommodate that volume, the state will install a fifth lane a turning lane from Grant Street to Greenwich, with work beginning March 17.
The right-of-way needed for the fifth lane simply brought the roadway too close to the Conoco Cafe, which the state acquired more than a year ago through condemnation. The last restaurant to operate there, Pam's Cafe, closed Jan. 31, 2007, and relocated to South Locust Street.
The Conoco Cafe actually started as the Conoco Service Station, according to Stuhr Museum Research Curator Karen Keehr. It opened in about 1940 and later included the Conoco Village operated by proprietor Vern Hainline at 2103 W. Second.
Keehr said the original service station had a tile roof.
It served traffic on what was known as the Lincoln Highway "the main street of the nation" because it was the longest paved east and west highway in the United States.
The paved highway effort started in 1913 when Carl G. Fisher organized and piloted a group of businessmen on an automobile tour from Indianapolis to the Pacific Coast.
Fisher suggested the paving and the idea picked up support from the Detroit automobile industry, according to a Lincoln Highway history brochure. Highway bonds were sold to pave the route from New York City to San Francisco. Grand Island had one of the original "seedling miles" of paving, which is still intact today.
A number of service stations, hotels and restaurants cropped up along Highway 30 essentially the "interstate" of its era.
Even though cross-country traffic patterns have changed, there's still high demand on Highway 30 through Grand Island. It's a demand the State Department of Roads wants to better serve.
Third Party Environmental was busy removing asbestos from the Conoco building last week. This week, utility lines are to be capped and Hooker Brothers Construction is scheduled to demolish the building.
Detour signs will then be installed before the construction begins on March 17.
Griepenstroh said in the first phase, the south half of Second Street will be reconstructed. Eastbound traffic will be reduced to one lane and moved to the north half of Second Street. Westbound traffic will be detoured north one block to Third Street from Clark Street (near BG&S Transmissions) to Grant Street (near the Second Street overpass.)
Two-way traffic will be maintained on Third Street, Griepenstroh said.
The first phase of reconstruction includes water utility work, storm sewer work, grade stabilization and concrete paving. It's planned to take until late July to complete.
The second phase is scheduled to start in August and be finished in late October.
During the second phase, the north side of Second Street will be reconstructed. Eastbound Highway 30 traffic will remain reduced to one lane and will be moved on to the new concrete on the south half of Second Street. Westbound Highway 30 traffic will still be detoured to Third Street.
Minor work, such as sidewalks, lighting and landscaping, is to be done in spring 2009, Griepenstroh said.
Traffic delays are expected during construction, he said.
"We want people to continue to support those (Second Street) businesses," Griepenstroh said. "It might be five extra minutes or more plan to leave early."
Want to comment on this article?
Register on our forums and post your thoughts.
It's free and easy to do!
independentforums.com
|
