GARDNER, Kan. — A $26.2 million construction project at the Gardner Road Bridge over I-35 is great news for residents in Gardner, Kansas.
According to the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT), the bridge project will take place in phases, and should be completed by November of 2027.
The project will include “replacement of the Gardner Road bridge over I-35, with turn lanes, shoulders, lighting improvements and pedestrian facilities, an additional lane on the southbound I-35 to Gardner Road exit ramp, pavement improvements, and realignment of 191st Street east of Gardner Road.”
Work will be scheduled Monday through Friday and some Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Lane restrictions will take place on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to KDOT.
Some people living in Gardner said this project has been coming a long time for safety reasons. This is the same bridge where a four-foot hole opened earlier this year.
“It's been needing a makeover for years,” Victoria Bledsoe said. “I grew up in that area, so I've seen it dwindle down. And compared to all the other bridges around here, it's not big enough.”
Bledsoe drives over the bridge every day. She lives in Gardner, but works in Kansas City.
“This degradation of the bridge should be a wake-up call that our infrastructure safety can’t be an afterthought. If we’re going to keep growing as a community, the roads and bridges have to be able to support us,” Brandon Van Anne said.
Van Anne lives and works in Gardner.
“The bridge is definitely in need of some much-needed repairs,” Ryan Ellis said.
Ellis is the children's pastor at New Life Community Church, right by the bridge off I-35.
“Gardner is a very tight community,” he said. “As the community grew, we knew we chose this location specifically to the proximity to the highway."
At KSHB 41’s Let’s Talk Listening Session in Gardner, people living there said they’re seeing their city grow. Ellis said this project is proof of that.
“There used to be a lot of distance between Gardner and Olathe and Gardner and these other towns, and those distances are growing smaller as the communities grow,” Ellis said. “As it grows, you know, we need things like this.”
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KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers the cities of Shawnee and Mission. She also focuses on issues surrounding the cost of health care, saving for retirement and personal debt. Share your story idea with Elyse.
