Kansas city officials announced on Thursday that new funding sources will be used to fund 30 bridge improvement projects across the state.
Grace Hoge with the Office of the Governor shared the news in a press release. Both Kansas Governor Laura Kelly and Kansas Transportation Secretary Calvin Reed made the bridge improvement projects known to the public during an announcement in Dodge City on Aug. 31.
Hoge said the 35 local and off-system bridge projects will benefit from $42.3 million in funds thanks to two local bridge improvement programs.
These programs make use of new revenue sources through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Kansas has utilized funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in the past, one project was sealing abandoned oil wells.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, according to the Federal Transit Administration, authorizes $108 billion for public transportation.
“A stronger transportation system and safer bridges keep our communities and economy moving,” Kelly said. “There are more than 19,000 bridges on local road systems across Kansas, all of which are essential to getting people and goods where they need to go. Yet almost 5,000 of those bridges simply cannot meet our state’s needs in a modern world, which is why these investments are critical for making our state a better place to live and work.”
Hoge said matching funds from cities and counties will bump the total project value to $48.8 million.
Additionally, the Kansas Department of Transportation more than doubled its annual funding as part of the existing Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program.
“We welcome opportunities to partner with Kansas cities and counties to replace or rehabilitate deteriorating bridges,” said Reed. “The needs are high, and these programs allow KDOT to assist communities move projects forward that support the transportation needs of Kansans.”
Hoge said KDOT’s Off-System Bridge program is awarding $20.5 million in FY 2025 funds to 20 projects in Kansas while the Kansas Local Bridge Improvement Program is awarding $21.8 million in FY 2024 KDOT funds to 15 projects.
A total of 16 bridges will be replaced and 12 will be permanently removed from local systems. KDOT received a total of 176 applications with requests totaling $162.4 million for the current cycle of local bridge programs.
