KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers neighborhoods in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. Share your story idea with Rachel.
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Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, Unified Government Mayor Christal Watson, and the Kansas Department of Transportation announced Thursday that Kansas City, Kansas, is getting $135 million to replace bridges along the Central Avenue corridor.
“Today’s announcement reflects the power of collaboration, looking at the bigger picture and listening to communities,” Governor Laura Kelly said in a press release. “Through effective problem solving, we’re able to address more needs with the same level of investment.”
The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas and KDOT both own bridges along the Central Avenue corridor that need to be replaced.
The UG owns the bridge that crosses the Kansas River, which was closed in Spring 2021 due to safety and structural concerns.
The KDOT-owned bridges over I-70 and Union Pacific Railroad are open but are near the end of their service life.
This news comes after years of complaints from residents who say multiple bridge closures in the area have resulted in business revenue loss, delays and overall inconvenience.
In August 2025, I spoke with the Unified Government’s Road and Bridges Program Manager, Brandon Grover.
He told me the Central and Kansas Avenue bridges — both of which the UG owns — exceeded the typical 50 to 75-year life expectancy for such infrastructure.
Built in 1918, the Central Avenue Bridge has been closed since 2021. Shortly after, in 2022, the Kansas Avenue Bridge, which was built in 1921, closed.
"There was a lot of talk at one point about, ‘Public Works wanted these closed,'" Grover said in August. "That’s not the case. Public Works got the data from licensed professional engineers that said these need to be closed, and that’s what we did. It’s not a choice we’re making. The city can decide to overrule us if they want to; these are just what the data tells."
Several business owners expressed concerns over the closures.
Zach Wilson, owner of Union Press Screen Printing, which is located along Kansas Avenue, has been vocal about the impacts he’s felt.
I spoke with Wilson in August.
“We’re losing revenue due to these bridges being closed, and we’re losing the sense of community between the two sides of the bridges,” he said.
Logan Smith, the owner of Hillsiders Neighborhood Bar in Strawberry Hill, says the Central Avenue Bridge’s closure resulted in some customers not even wanting to cross the state line.
“It’s hard enough to get people to come over here without being stiffened by the bridge closures,” Smith said in August.
Kansas Rep. Pam Curtis (D - KCK) also spoke with me about the closures in August.
She says her constituents have been reaching out to her about this ever since they closed.
“I think we’ve missed out on just not providing some good narrative with our grant applications,” Curtis said. “There just is not that amount of money without the federal help, I think, available for us to get it done.”
After Thursday’s announcement, Curtis says she’s overjoyed.
"I'm thrilled to see this much-needed investment in KCK's infrastructure and am proud of the work we have done over the last few years to make this a priority,” Curtis said in a statement. “The Central Avenue Bridge has provided an important river crossing for our community and businesses since the early 1900’s and this major investment from KDOT will help our downtown communities by restoring a critical regional access point from the west bottoms and the James Street Central Industrial Area, and enhance the economic opportunity for growth by providing the much-needed access to the small businesses along Central Avenue, Strawberry Hill, and our downtown area. I applaud the efforts of the businesses, residents, and coalition to fix the bridge that have advocated for years to reopen the Central Avenue Bridge, and am grateful to the Administration for taking action."
Although this funding covers bridges along the Central Avenue corridor, there are other ongoing projects impacting business owners.
In December, I spoke to some business owners in Turner.
"Some of the clients are older and don't want to drive down there on (Interstate) 635," said Lillie Trower, owner of Hairmasters salon in Turner. "Clients sometimes will call and say, 'We're stuck behind a train and we can't get there.'" "And I just have to wait," Trower said.
Jimmy and Debra Ybarra own her neighboring business, The Windmill KC coffee shop.
I also spoke with them in December.
"The date keeps on changing to a later date, and so in the meantime, we're holding down some of our expenses because we can't perform our business at the level that we'd like to," Jimmy Ybarra said. "We'd like to expand our horizons, but that seems almost impossible because of situations like this."
The completion date for the Turner Diagonal Bridge project is May 2026.
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