KCK’s Rock Island Bridge is 85% complete. Who’s paying the $17M to fund it?
Construction on the bridge-turned-entertainment center that will sit over the Kaw on a former railroad line is 85% complete and was fully funded as of earlier this spring, its developer said.
Mike Zeller, chief executive officer of Flying Truss and creator of the Rock Island Bridge, said last week that his multi-purpose, two-level project will be open to the public once it wraps up ongoing construction on the bridge and after the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, complete accessible ramps and stairs to get people to the bridge.
The target date for completion has moved to this fall.
Although site work surrounding the bridge is still underway, Zeller on Monday said his group has the $17 million it needs to bring the bridge to completion.
He said roughly 60% of the project was financed privately; 30% from local and state funding; and 10% from philanthropic donations to the Unified Government.
Cost of the Rock Island Bridge
The cost to renew the bridge rose from an initial $5 million, to $15 million early last year as plans expanded, according to previous reporting. That has since grown and work on the bridge included efforts to strengthen it, cosmetic upgrades and raising it 4 feet higher to prevent flooding.
As of Tuesday morning, Unified Government Economic Development Director Chelsee Chism had not responded to questions seeking specifically how far along Unified Government site work was.
Zeller and government officials have pitched the project, which has seen a few delays since its initially promised 2023 completion, as an entertainment venue with seating for shows, a bar and restaurant, restrooms and a connection between Missouri’s West Bottoms and Kansas City, Kansas.
As the project has progressed, its partners have seen the bridge as an opportunity to open up the slower-moving waters of the Kansas River for recreational use.
“What began as an infrastructure renewal project has grown into a broader, river-activation effort that new city signage calls the Kansas Waterfront,” Zeller wrote in an email to The Star.
“With water speeds at just about one-third of the Missouri River’s, the Kansas, or Kaw, as it’s known locally, is ideal for paddle craft.”
Construction over the Kaw
The project surpassed a few key hurdles recently. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last month finished raising levees as part of a 13-mile-long levee-raising initiative, Zeller said.
The Unified Government has conducted site work and construction to widen the levee to create a nearby overlook park adjacent to the bridge. The government will next extend Wyandotte County area trailheads to lead to the bridge and work on the ramp and staircase access, Zeller said. The Unified Government expects the ramps and staircase work to be completed in September.
Wyandotte County’s economic development committee last month signed off on extending its development agreement for the project through March 2026.
This story was originally published May 21, 2025 at 11:03 AM with the headline "KCK’s Rock Island Bridge is 85% complete. Who’s paying the $$17M to fund it?."
