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Public works proposes closing low-use Ridge at Diamond Road bridge, keep it on inventory for grant funding
Summary
Director of Public Works said the stone-arch bridge on Ridge at Diamond Road is low-use and that staff recommends closing the structure but keeping it on the county inventory to pursue Kansas Local Bridge Improvement Program funding to remove and possibly replace it later.
Butler County Public Works staff reported on an old stone-arch bridge on Ridge at Diamond Road that currently carries a 5-ton limit and serves a dead-end mile road with very limited users. Director of Public Works Curtis Mater said landowners generally preferred keeping the road as a quiet, dead-end roadway and one property owner opposed rebuilding, so staff recommends closing the structure to traffic but keeping the bridge on the county inventory so it remains eligible for Kansas Local Bridge Improvement Program (KLBIP) funding or similar grant programs.
Mater said rebuilding the bridge for a single property owner was not a cost-effective use of limited bridge funds given higher-priority needs elsewhere in the county. He recommended removing the structure when funding becomes available and constructing a small turnaround so graders and property owners can access remaining properties; staff will keep the bridge on the inventory to allow grant submittal. Mater noted the structure is not documented as historic and that removing the bridge would require a further resolution from the board.
No formal resolution was adopted at the meeting; Mater said the plan was to keep the structure on the inventory, close it to through traffic, and seek grant funding to remove the bridge and provide a turnaround for local access. The board did not record a formal vote on removal at this meeting.
