Riley County bridge replacement work begins
RILEY COUNTY (KSNT) - State transportation officials say work is starting in Riley County to replace a local bridge.
Kate Craft with the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) said in a press release that workers will start a project to replace the Mill Creek bridge on US-77 on Monday, Oct. 16. The bridge sits eight miles south of Randolph in Riley County.
Craft said initial construction work will be focused on creating a shoofly detour to carry traffic around the existing bridge. A shoofly is created during bridge projects like this as a temporary detour bridge and are kept in storage by KDOT when not in use, according to KDOT.
Impacts to local traffic are expected to be minimal, but Craft said the traffic speed through the area will be set at 50 mph while the project is ongoing. The shoofly should be finished by early December, at which point traffic will be shifted to the detour while the existing bridge is demolished and rebuilt.
Craft said work in the area will occur Monday through Friday during daylight hours with the entire project expected to be finished by spring 2024. King Construction is the primary contractor for this $2.24 million project.
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