HUTCHINSON, Kan. – A Kansas Department of Transportation program designed to reduce the number of deficient bridges on local road systems will also benefit the state’s agriculture industry.
The new $10 million program, announced Tuesday here in Hutchinson by Transportation Secretary Mike King, will provide up to $120,000 to local jurisdictions – primarily counties – to replace small bridges that are rated deficient. Bridges that qualify must have a daily vehicle count of less than 100 and be 20 to 50 feet in length.
“While qualifying bridges under the program have relatively low traffic numbers, they are important routes for farmers to get their equipment to fields and their crops to market,” said Secretary King.
“Many of these bridges have a low load rating and it isn’t legal or safe for some of today’s large farm equipment to cross.”
There are approximately 20,000 bridges on Kansas’ local road systems and about 18 percent of those are structurally deficient. Of those, about 1,800 to 1,900 would qualify for funding under program guidelines.
Local jurisdictions awarded funds must provide a 10 percent match.
Applications will be accepted through mid-September and project selections will follow in early October. More information about the application process will soon be posted on KDOT’s website on the local projects page.