TOPEKA – Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly and Secretary of Transportation Julie Lorenz have announced that Osage County is one of 13 counties that will receive a combined total of $7.5 million through the Kansas Department of Transportation’s Off-System Bridge Improvement Program.

State funding for the 13 projects will be supplemented by a minimum 20 percent match from each recipient. KDOT received 87 applications requesting $46.4 million as part of the Off-System Bridge Improvement Program.

Osage County’s awarded amount will be $857,021.60, for bridge construction located 1/2 mile south and 4.3 miles east of Vassar.

In Kansas, there are more than 19,300 locally owned bridges, of which 1,230 are in “poor” condition and an additional 3,844 are either unable to carry legal loads or accommodate modern truck sizes. Off-system bridges are located on roadways not otherwise eligible for federal aid.

In addition to this federally required program, KDOT reinstated the Kansas Local Bridge Improvement Program bridge program as part of the Kelly Administration’s 10-year, bipartisan Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program to assist cities and counties with the local roadway system.

For federal fiscal year 2023, other award recipients in the Off-System Bridge Improvement Program include: Leavenworth County, $563,484.80; Lyon County, $626.123.20; Shawnee County, $585,325.60; Wyandotte County, $685,792.00; Clay County, $270.822.40; Republic County, $664,082.40; Trego County, $558,991.60; Bourbon County, $318,871.20; Cherokee County, $651,720.80; Woodson County, $432,441.60; Cowley County, $1,000,000.00; Harper County, $305,767.