Despite state dispute, KCK to get funds to fix Central Avenue Bridge after all
More than $135 million in state infrastructure funds will stay in Kansas’ urban core after all, the legislature’s Budget Conference Committee decided Friday.
In other words, the committee effectively restored funding that had previously been allocated for the Central Avenue Bridge and other major upcoming infrastructure projects in Kansas City, Kansas.
Committee members voted to remove a proposed budget condition that, if passed into law, would’ve instead directed those funds to rural communities across Kansas, despite the fact that Gov. Laura Kelly had already promised funding would go to projects in KCK.
The decision marks a win for KCK advocates who for more than four years have lobbied their neighborhoods and local and state officials to move forward efforts to get the long-closed bridge back up and running.
“We’re grateful for the latest news out of Topeka,” wrote the Coalition to Fix Central Avenue Bridge in a recent statement. “Thank you to all who have contributed, from our own representative who has advocated at every step to those who sent letters and emails. Our bridge funding is back on!”
The coalition earlier this month circulated a petition urging lawmakers to get the critical funding again earmarked for KCK by removing that budget term.
Last month, a southwest Kansas representative, Republican Shannon Francis, proposed to instead allocate the KCK bridge monies to the state’s rural counties, which have also experienced infrastructure delays. He told the committee he was concerned by the millions in infrastructure costs the state would need to pay to prepare for the Kansas City Chiefs’ move into KCK, and said granting that funding to KCK would be unfair to other counties that don’t spend as much on infrastructure.
The initial approval of Francis’ proposal came at a shock to area advocates for infrastructure funding, given Kelly had just promised that funding to KCK weeks prior.
Now that those dollars are again to be directed to KCK-area projects, they’ll be used to resume construction on the long-closed Central Avenue Bridge, a major artery connecting the city’s east side to the West Bottoms that’s been closed for about five years. Funds would also be used to repair two other area bridges.
KCK officials have previously said in a public meeting that they’ve been trying to acquire bridge funding for the city throughout negotiations with the Chiefs and Kansas Legislature. At the time, an attorney representing the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and KCK told the county commissioners that stadium discussions included $135 million for the Central Avenue Bridge; $1.2 million for the Kansas Avenue Bridge; $2 million for the Union Pacific Bridge; and $1.5 million for east-west bus line improvements.
Pam Curtis, a Democrat who represents downtown KCK, has worked closely alongside the Coalition to Fix Central Avenue Bridge for years. She celebrated the Budget Conference Committee’s decision in a recent social media post.
“Many thanks once again for reaching out and convincing lawmakers why this bridge is a critical investment for Kansas and KCK,” Curtis wrote. “Funding for the Central Avenue (Bridge) is once again secure.”
