Bridge connecting KCK to the West Bottoms could reopen thanks to $4.5M from feds
The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, may be getting $4.5 million in federal funding to save the Kansas Avenue Bridge and Mount Monty Park, Mayor Tyrone Garner announced in a news release late last week.
Should all earmarked appropriations, requested by the U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids on behalf of the Unified Government, receive bipartisan support in the legislature ahead of the 2026 fiscal year, KCK could be saying goodbye to one of a handful of transportation headaches created by local bridge closures.
Davids requested the federal government direct $3.5 million toward design and clearance for the Kansas Avenue Bridge’s replacement. The Unified Government closed the bridge in 2022 due to structural concerns. Also preliminarily approved was a requested roughly $1 million for work on KCK’s Mount Monty Park.
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This would be an additional round of federal funding directed toward re-opening the bridge and reconnecting travelers between KCK and Kansas City, Missouri, to the roughly $3 million approved in 2024, according to Davids’ office.
“The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because it would reconnect two communities and is an urban freight corridor that is very important to the many local industrial and manufacturing businesses,” according to a release outlining Davids’ funding asks for FY 2026.
The Unified Government on Tuesday morning confirmed plans for reconstruction would begin upon receiving the funds.
Mount Monty Park is home to Rosedale’s World War I memorial arch. The park, which is more than 100 years old, has fallen into disrepair in recent years. Work on it, if funding is cemented, would include renovating greenspaces and trails, getting the park in compliance with ADA standards and repairing features in preparation of a celebration scheduled to be held in it later this year, according to Davids’ office.
“Being able to announce at this celebration that the park is being restored would be incredibly significant for the Rosedale neighborhood,” according to the outline of funding requests. “The neighborhood treasures this park, as it has been a gathering place for decades.
Davids in an afternoon statement wrote that the requests were submitted by working alongside local officials and went through a vetting process that work on the projects would produce a return on investment. She added these projects were selected because they may improve public health, safety and economic opportunities.
“Now, we need bipartisan cooperation to keep the government open and ensure this taxpayer funding makes it back to Kansas, but the only way we get there is by both parties focusing on delivering real results.” Davids said.
