Nebraska City Street Commissioner Dean Handy said a downtown traffic study advises two-way stops on Central Avenue intersections, rather than four-way stops.

Michael Piernicky of Olsson Associates said there is not enough traffic on Central Avenue to justify a stoplight at every intersection from 11th Street to Sixth Street.

He said the traffic signals at the intersections of 10th, Ninth, Eighth and Seventh street could be replaced.

The city held a public input meeting about the downtown project, which includes paving five blocks of streets and constructing decorative crosswalks, on Sept. 4. After public input has been considered, the traffic plan will be finalized and presented to city commissioners.

Handy said it will indicate two-way stops for the intersections to regulate north and south traffic across Central Avenue. He said there is not enough traffic to advise four-way stops.

Handy said the city reduces its risk of accident liability when it follows the advice of professional traffic engineers.

A person watching traffic on each block going east from the Otoe County Courthouse to the Commercial State Bank would count 64, 58, 48, 43 and 31 cars at the busiest hour in the morning. In the afternoon, the count would be 91, 74, 69, 57 and 43.

The westbound traffic count is 74, 61, 62, 63, 66 and 50 in the morning and 90, 125, 115, 90, 88 and 86 in the afternoon.

Projections over the next 20 years for Central Avenue between Ninth and Eighth streets has between 52 and 129 cars over the busiest hour. Piernicky said Central Avenue can expect 3,000 cars a day by 2028.