The Biden administration on Wednesday morning announced it was awarding $62 million to the state Transportation Department for constructing a new bridge across the Kansas River in Kansas City, Kansas.
Built in 1959, the 18th Street bridge, which also crosses BNSF Railway’s freight yard, is nearing the end of its life.
Engineers say any further repairs beyond upgrades undertaken in 2018 wouldn’t be cost effective.
The bridge is one of the few remaining of its design types on the Kansas highway system.
The new 18th Street Bridge will use modern design standards, including new 10-foot wide exterior shoulders and a 6-foot wide interior shoulder.
The project is in final design with construction projected to start in 2025. It is expected that full closure of the bridge will last 20 to 24 months.
The bridge carries about 33,000 vehicles a day. The total cost of the bridge replacement is $137.9 million, according to federal transportation officials.
The grant is part of an announcement of more than $5 billion in large bridge project awards through the Federal Highway Administration’s competitive bridge investment program.
The grants were available for bridges with eligible project costs totaling more than $100 million, with minimum grant awards of $50 million and a maximum award of 50% of the total eligible project cost.
