COVID-19 quarantine has really slowed Hwy. 20 traffic

OSMOND — Pierce County Commissioner Jim Schmit of Osmond has been driving on Highway 20 through Pierce and Cedar counties for almost 50 years.

Whether it’s for farming, Schmit Auction Service or ERA Real Estate, Schmit has always been accompanied by 10 cars in front of him and 10 cars behind him on Highway 20.

But when COVID-19 caused the state to shut down mid-March, for as far as he could see, there was only ever one other car on the road besides his.

“When this started about a month and a half ago, for the first two weeks it was eerie,” Schmit said. “There was nothing.”

In February of this year, a spot on Highway 20 in Cedar County west of Laurel saw 1,885 cars, according to the Nebraska Department of Transportation.

Down 5.5 percent, March saw 1,781 cars down Highway 20 due to the state shutdown.

Across Nebraska, the state Department of Transportation has more than 60 automated traffic counting stations on county roads, highways and interstates, counting each car that goes by, every hour, every day, all year long. The stations stretch from the state line on I-680 at the Mormon Bridge in Omaha (down 13 percent in March) to the state line on I-80 at the Pine Bluffs interchange in Kimball County (up 3.5 percent).

A Nebraska News Service analysis of individual traffic station data gives the first local view of what impact the coronavirus is having on the state’s roadways. The state takes the daily count of cars, then averages them together to create a monthly count. Of the 62 counting stations statewide, 51 of them reported lower traffic volumes in March versus February.

That ranges from the 33,000 cars per day drop in March at 42nd Street on I-80 in Omaha, where 143,000 cars a day passed by last month to the five-car daily average drop on a county road north of Chappell in Deuel County, where 64 cars a day on average drove by.

So while March gives the first look at local traffic, it’s a partial look. State and local authorities started ordering shutdowns mid month in some places, later in others. Normal traffic levels were averaged in with below normal levels to get the monthly amount.

The state has more recent traffic summaries that hint that traffic is down even more in April. Last week, Interstate 80 west of Lincoln to the Wyoming state line was down 26 percent from previous years. Rural highways in the state are down 14 percent. Streets in Lincoln and Omaha are down 27 percent from the past. But those are wide summaries covering hundreds of miles of roadways.

Closer to the spot, the trends become more personal.

Schmit said in the last two weeks he’s seen a sudden burst of people and cars. He believes the weather and farming are both huge factors in this. He also said that Nebraskan’s work ethic is an important factor as well.

“I think we are used to doing things around here and after people are sitting in their houses for so long they just can’t not do anything,” he said.

Schmit said he tested negative for COVID-19 last week, despite not wearing a mask and still maintaining the same, busy travel patterns. Regardless, he fears that this period of social distancing is not over.

“I think the worst is yet to come,” Schmit said. “We haven’t seen the bad stuff, yet.”

Shell gas station manager Holly Cunningham wasn’t really surprised when she saw a decrease in traffic on US 81 just south of Hadar.

US 81 runs just outside of Cunningham’s gas station. According to the Nebraska Department of Transportation, US 81 saw 8,260 cars in February. In March, when the statewide shutdown for COVID-19 occurred, the highway saw a 6.6 percent decrease with only 7,717 cars.

“We are obviously a main highway running through the area,” Cunningham said. “We do get some truck traffic but it really isn’t as high as it was.”

According to Cunningham, she receives a range of travelers through her doors.

“We’ve got our normal people that are through here everyday just going about their business like there’s nothing really going on,” she said. “Then, you see more of the travelers who come in with masks on and gloves and are very cautious when they come in.”