Board approves bridge contracts, three‑way stop and multiple right‑of‑way vacations; consent agenda accepted

The Leavenworth County Board of Commissioners approved a slate of infrastructure actions at the meeting, including traffic control changes, engineering work authorizations, a construction contract for two bridges and several right‑of‑way vacations. The board also accepted the meeting’s consent agenda.

Votes at a glance - Consent agenda: Motion to accept the consent agenda passed by roll call (recorded as unanimous among commissioners present). - Resolution 2025‑24 — Place three‑way stop signs at intersection of 180 Third Street and Logan Road: Motion to approve introduced and seconded; board approved the resolution by roll call. (Staff had earlier described the intersection as 180 Third Street and Leavenworth Road during the presentation; the board’s motion used the name Logan Road.) - Accept proposal from MRJ Engineering for bid documents, permitting and design for bridges A‑7 and HP‑51: Motion to accept the MRJ Engineering proposal passed; staff said these are prebuilt/steel bridge solutions consistent with the county CIP and budgeted work. - Approve contract with Reece Construction for reconstruction of bridges HP‑54 and SH‑61: Board approved the construction contract for Reece Construction; the low bid was $1,582,437 and the county received a Kansas local bridge improvement program grant of $2,000,000 for the project. Staff said bid savings will be applied to construction engineering and inspection so the full grant amount is utilized. - Board Orders 2025‑7, 2025‑8 and 2025‑9 — Vacations of portions of right‑of‑way: The board held public hearings (no public commenters for two of the vacations), then approved three separate motions to vacate described strips of right‑of‑way near Gilman Road and along Hollingsworth/Highlands Road tracts. Staff and some commissioners noted variations in the written descriptions (10‑ft by 300‑ft vs. longer stretch descriptions) and said staff would clarify the dimensions in the final documents.

Details and context - Three‑way stop: County staff said a 2022 paving project created sight‑distance limits at the T intersection and that a field survey measured 149 feet of sight distance, which meets warrants for only a 24 mph speed; the recommendation was to install three‑way stop control in accordance with MUTCD and AASHTO standards. - Bridges: Staff described MRJ Engineering as providing bid documents and design work for low‑volume road structures (prebuilt/steel). The construction contract with Reece Construction covers two bridges with a notice‑to‑proceed window of Sept. 2 to Dec. 15 for construction mobilization. Staff recommended K‑32 and other county routes as detours during construction; both bridges are west of 170th Street and local access to 170th Street should remain available. - Right‑of‑way vacations: Staff and commissioners discussed historical practices of exchanging right‑of‑way for road improvements and noted a change in county practice to avoid quid‑pro‑quo land trades; counsel also flagged a two‑year statutory limitation that can affect some reversion requests. Commissioners asked staff to develop a streamlined right‑of‑way vacation policy to handle backlog requests from 2024.

Roll calls and tallies The transcript records roll‑call approvals for these items with commissioners verbally recorded as voting “Aye.” Where individual names were not mapped to a formal tally in the transcript, the board recorded approvals by roll call and the clerk announced the motions carried.

What’s next - Staff will clarify right‑of‑way descriptions and provide final documents to be recorded where required. - Staff will finalize contract documents and coordinate construction schedules and detours with the contractor and K‑DOT grant administrators.

No formal dissenting vote was recorded in the transcript for the motions listed above; the actions were presented and approved during the meeting.