PWF Bridge Construction Set To Begin In November

By Gordon HopkinsJefferson County Commissioners have voted to approve a bid for the replacement bridge on the PWF (Pawnee City, Wymore, Fairbury) Road, the next step in the long-delayed repair of the PWF Road that Jefferson County Commissioner have been working on for many years.The unanimous vote was held at a meeting Tuesday morning, October 21, 2025.The low bidder was JJK Construction, LLC, of Ceresco. The bid was recommended by the county’s engineer, Tim Farmer of Speece Lewis. Terry Blas of the Jefferson County Highway Department told commissioners, “The lowest evaluated bid has been determined to be qualified and capable of performing the contract.”T he bid total is $885,549.22. The start date for construction is set for November 3, 2025, and is expected to take 110 working days to complete.The bridge will have to be closed during construction. County commissioner Michael Dux observed, “If people are using it to harvest, they better hurry it up.”The bridge is located between Highway 103/581 and the Gage County Line. Alternative routes will be marked during the closure. Commissioner Mark Schoenrock said he had been in touch with a number of residents who live and farm in that area, “And I said, ‘We will maintain it so that you’ve got access during the duration of the construction.’”Dux said he does not want the bridge closed before the project begins, “The day we close it is the day they start.”Blas said, “I mean, it’s an inconvenience, but when it’s done, it’s going to be nice.” The new bridge as originally included as part of a larger project to repair a six-mile stretch of the PWF Road but was later broken out as its own project so that it would not have to wait until the rest of the repair work began.“Right now, we’re on target for the rest of the road to let the contract on that summer, 2026,” said Schoenrock. “The county will ensure that our citizens that live along the road or that have business interests, cattle, crops, etc., they’ll have constant access to their properties while we’re doing this construction.”The total estimated cost for the PWF project is $12.8 million. Jefferson County will be receiving $8.5 million toward that total cost from federal sources. The rest will likely be paid for by issuing a bond, which the county has authority to do without a public vote.

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