Montgomery County commissioners agreed July 28 to proceed with a crew-led replacement of a collapsed culvert under Buckeye Street, after public-works staff presented two repair options and a longer-term redesign that would add a turn lane.

Public-works staff said the failed pipe must be removed and replaced; staff recommended installing two 36‑inch by about 42‑foot pipes at an estimated materials and installation cost of roughly $10,000, with a labor/equipment removal estimate of $1,500–$2,000 if done in‑house. Commissioners said the in‑house pipe replacement was the most cost‑effective near‑term option and directed staff to proceed once materials arrive; staff estimated the work would take a couple of days once crews begin.

The engineers had proposed two larger options: increasing the T‑intersection radius (staff estimated needing about a 100‑foot radius on the north side and about 96 tons of asphalt if done with county crews, at a roughly $7,000–$10,000 labor material estimate) or constructing a new turn lane (estimated at roughly 430 tons of asphalt, extensive regrading and a contractor price likely north of $60,000). Commissioners and staff said the turn‑lane alternative was likely too costly and disruptive for the expected safety benefit.

Staff also summarized a list of ongoing bridge and road projects across the county: Bridge 913 on County Road 1800 east of Coffeyville (near completion), Bridge 527A (letting scheduled for November), Bridge 913A (design work under way pending an off‑system bridge program application to KDOT), and deck repairs and overlays on other county bridges. The report included completed and ongoing box‑culvert and wing‑wall replacements (County Roads 3300, 3700, 5400), repairs to a salt building damaged by high winds in Deering, and pipe seam and bottom‑rust repairs on County Road 1400 near the levee west of Caney.

Staff said the county purchased 272.32 tons of salt for the winter inventory and had used about 12.97 tons of deicing mix so far; they reported 65,331 tons of road rock used this year, about four‑fifths of the annual allocation to date, after heavy rains and washouts. Equipment purchases this year included a Freightliner water truck (replacement) and an upcoming Mack dump truck to replace a unit destroyed by fire.

On personnel, the road and bridge department reported 48 total positions with eight hires since Jan. 1, five departures and eight open positions (four in bridge crew, four roadside). Commissioners asked staff to pursue KDOT feedback on a longer extension of South Buckeye improvements and to add signage recommendations when reopening the Buckeye curve to traffic.

Commissioners did not take a formal recorded vote specifically on the Buckeye repair during the presentation; the meeting record shows a verbal agreement among commissioners and direction to staff to proceed with the pipe replacement.