Officials with the Saline County Road and Bridge Department have announced two upcoming road and bridge closures.
The bridge over West Spring Creek on Reese Road between Water Well Road and Farrelly Road has been deemed structurally deficient and functionally obsolete. It will be closed tomorrow, November 25th.
The April 21, 2015 Request for Action (RFA) which was approved unanimously by the Saline Board of County Commissioners authorized the construction of a new bridge on Wyman Road (one mile west of Reese Road) over West Spring Creek between Water Well Road and Farrelly Road in lieu of a new bridge on Reese Road. The RFA also stated that the existing Reese Road bridge would be closed upon completion of the new Wyman bridge. The Wyman bridge was completed and reopening to traffic on November 13th. Closure of the existing Reese Road bridge should have minimum impact on agricultural activity and fire response since that bridge was load posted and could not be legally used by operators of heavy trucks and farm equipment.
Additionally, Crawford Street from Woodward Road to Cunningham Road will be closed Monday, November 30th, for the replacement of an existing deteriorated drainage structure with a new concrete rigid frame bridge (RFB) drainage structure. The structure is located 0.5 mile west of Cunningam Road. The work at this site is anticipated to be completed by the end of January 2016. Of course, completion is dependent on unforeseen conditions such as adverse weather.
Through traffic will be restricted during the construction period and motorists are advised to allow a few extra minutes of travel time to reach their destinations. Local and emergency traffic will be provided access to private property within the sections of closed road at all times but only from the side of the project site upon which the property lies. The only times these properties may not be accessible might be during possible critical stages of construction when it is impractical to carry on construction operations and simultaneously allow local traffic.
Saline County opened bids on the 2015 Reinforced Concrete Box (RCB) and Rigid Frame Bridge Package on March 2, 2015. This project consists of the replacement of two existing drainage structures with new reinforced concrete structures. The low bidder was Reece Construction Company, Inc. of Scandia, Kansas. They were awarded a contract for $194,000.00. The projects are funded from the 2-mil fund for bridge and culvert replacement.