INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County, including Independence. Share your story idea with Tod.
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The Independence City Council unanimously approved an ordinance Monday to annex a series of property lots detached from Kansas City, Missouri, last week "for the purpose of completing the Kentucky Road Bridge over Rock Creek,” according to the agenda cover for the ordinance.
The bridge, which has deteriorated to the point that it has a hole through the deck, has been closed since 2019.
RELATED | KCMO, Independence aim to resolve interjurisdictional tangle over Kentucky Road bridge
Prior to the KCMO City Council's vote last week to relinquish the property, half of the bridge was located in Independence and the other half in Kansas City, which complicated efforts to fund bridge repairs.
That complicated Independence's effort to repair the bridge, using money from a general-obligation bond voters passed in April 2025 for infrastructure.
Independence authorized design work to replace the bridge last year, but the property needed to be transferred to Independence before repairs could begin.
Finally, once paperwork is filed with Jackson County to acknowledge the recent council actions, that work should begin next year.
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II secured $1.2 million in federal funding in February 2026 to help pay for the bridge repairs.
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