Next week has the Lyon County Highway Department busy with bridge work.
Crews will close Road 240 between Roads X and Y on Monday, followed by Road 310 between C and D on Tuesday, Road 170 between R-1 and S on Wednesday and 110 between Kansas Highway 99 and L on Thursday. All four closures are for performing geology studies on bridge structures.
Closures will take place during the daytime hours.
These work zones come as Lyon County continues work on building a new Rocky Ford bridge southeast of Emporia. Contractors began installing footings in late November as part of a project to end vehicle access to the original bridge on Road P between 140 and 150. Detours are in place around the bridge through the construction process, which could end by late spring.
The original bridge, built in 1907, was made infamous by the murder of Sandra Bird in 1983 and was added to the Kansas Register of Historic Places back in 2020.
The total cost of the bridge replacement comes to just under $2 million, with an 85/15 split between the Kansas Department of Transportation and Lyon County. Given the split, the county’s share of the project is right around $300,000.
