CHADRON, Neb. - South Dakota has already completed a substantial portion of its part of the Heartland Expressway, a route designed to link Denver and Rapid City, S.D., via the Nebraska Panhandle through a four-lane highway system along Highways 385, 26 and 71. The only portion remaining in South Dakota is extending the expressway south from Maverick Junction, near Hot Springs, to the Nebraska border.

Nebraska, however, has had difficulty getting the project on track.

Recently, Neb. Gov. Dave Heineman said the project might need to be downgraded in order to move the it forward.

The governor, speaking July 12 at Gering's Oregon Trail Days, told reporters that lack of funding for the project may make a compromise necessary. Heineman's spokeswoman, Jen Rae Hein said the governor suggested that instead of a four-lane roadway, portions of the expressway could be downgraded to a "super two-lane" until additional funding is available. Heineman did not elaborate on which portions of the route may be under consideration for "super two-lane" status.

The Federal Highway Administration and Department of Roads will be in western Nebraska for a working meeting Aug. 5 in Gering, at which the subject of the Heartland Expressway, as well as other area projects, could be discussed, a Department of Roads spokesman said. The meeting is not open to the public.

The Department of Roads released its surface transportation plans for the 2010 fiscal year on July 10. The $487 million budget includes $162 million of federal stimulus funds but has little Heartland Expressway work scheduled.

Work on U.S. Highway 385 in 2010 includes bridge work south of Chadron and resurfacing from the Colorado line to Chappell, northwest of Alliance and from the Box Butte/Dawes county line north for 9.8 miles. The highway is also scheduled to be resurfaced from Gurley-Dalton, southeast of Bridgeport, north of Northport, north of Berea and south and north of Chadron.

The Heartland Expressway goes from U.S. Highway 385 south to Scottsbluff before dropping down to Kimball on Neb. Highway 71. The Department of Roads has slated work on Highway 71 for 2010. Five miles of the highway, from Interstate 80 to Kimball, will be expanded to a four-lane roadway, and 15 miles north of the Neb-raska/Colorado border will be resurfaced. Other work to Highway 71 includes bridge repair at the Gering interchange, resurfacing north and south of Kimball and Wildcat Hills and resurfacing at South Beltline Highway and Country Club Road near Scottsbluff.