The Lyon County Highway Department is seeking historical designation for a county bridge south of Emporia.
Lyon County Engineer Chip Woods made the recommendation for Bird Bridge during the Lyon County Commission’s weekly action session Thursday. The purpose of the designation would be to substitute Bird Bridge for another county bridge at Road 335 which was recently condemned by the department due to deficiencies in the structure.
The Kansas State Historical Society has decided the Road 335 is a candidate for a historical site designation, which would mean the county cannot make any changes to the bridge without the approval of the society. Woods says this is problematic for a few reasons.
Woods says it makes no sense to build new a bridge adjacent to a previous bridge, as would be the case if the 335 bridge gained a historical designation. Also, Woods says leaving the condemned bridge where it is would present several liability issues to both the county and landowner.
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Woods adds, Bird Bridge is a logical choice for the designation and could help save the county in both time and money. He says if they were to replace Bird Bridge the project could cost the county upwards of $1 million and would require extensive realignment work for the existing road.
Commissioners gave direction for Woods to propose the substitution to the Historical Society and report back at a later time.
In other business, commissioners approved the 2019 audit commitment letter from Agler and Gaeddert in the amount of $28,875. In addition, the commission approved the purchase of a new smart board for the community corrections department in the amount of $10,400 and reviewed board appointments for 2020.
The Lyon County Commission will hold its weekly action meeting next Thursday at 8 am inside the Lyon County Courthouse.
