Douglas County has $11 million worth of work to do on a couple dozen of its aging, weakening and otherwise deteriorating bridges.

And not a penny available to spend.

“We can’t do it,” said Keith Browning, county engineer and director of Public Works. “Based on where we are today, we can’t do it.”

That could change under a plan suggested by Bob Johnson, County Commission chairman.

Johnson, a longtime advocate of long-term planning, wants to consider setting aside about $835,000 a year to tackle the county’s mounting bill for bridge maintenance.

The set-aside — roughly equal to one mill of property tax, or about $17.25 a year for the owner of a $150,000 home — would breathe life into a maintenance program that virtually has been ignored since the 1970s.

And to make it happen, commissioners either would have to cut costs — an amount equivalent to laying off 18 sheriff’s deputies — or boost property taxes, something that would increase next year’s rate by about 3.4 percent.

Johnson isn’t ready to consider specifics, but he wouldn’t mind mulling a payment schedule for the county’s most pressing maintenance needs.

“I’m not proposing it, but it’s something we ought to think about,” Johnson said last week. “In these economic times, the easiest thing we could do would be to put it off. But that would lead to monumental problems down the road.”

It will cost an estimated 1 million to repair or replace the 23 Douglas County bridges that either are functionally obsolete or structurally deficient, or will be at least 50 years old by 2013. This bridge along County Road 1055 was placed in 1949.

Shouldering costs

Commissioner Charles Jones wants to expand the discussion to include other major construction costs. Adding gravel or pavement to the sides of roads, for example, could pay off by cutting down on accidents.

“We have a whole generation of shoulders that we need to build,” Jones said.

Such construction would cost tens of millions of dollars. Adding shoulders next year to Wellman Road in neighboring Jefferson County, for example, will cost $1.42 million.

And that’s just for 5.8 miles.

¢ County considers bond issue for roads (4-29-03)¢ State details deficient bridges (7-11-03)¢ 6News video: Several state bridges need to be upgraded¢ County’s ‘deficient’ bridges on long waiting list for repair (7-09-03)¢ 6News video: ‘Deficient’ bridges in line for county funding¢ After decade of repairs, 28% of U.S. bridges still deficient

“There’s a lot of road needs out there,” Browning conceded.

Such spending hasn’t scared off Commissioner Jere McElhaney, who just a few months ago was proposing to cut $1.7 million from the county’s $45.6 million budget for next year to avoid a tax increase. Wholesale programs would have been eliminated from the county’s budget, including Douglas County Legal Aid, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) and Health Care Access.

McElhaney hasn’t indicated where the county should find all the money to tackle upgrades for bridges, roads and other major projects, but he figures it’s at least worth talking about.

“It’s a good direction,” McElhaney said. “I’m glad (Johnson) brought it up.”

Driving the discussion is the mounting roster of county-maintained bridges that need attention.

Bridging financial gaps

Of the county’s 162 bridges, Browning said, 23 will need attention during the next 10 years. That’s because they either are functionally obsolete or structurally deficient, or will be at least 50 years old by 2013.

The estimated bill to repair, revamp or replace the structures: $11 million. At $835,000 a year, Browning said, it would take 10 years to tackle them all, as long as state and federal resources could help with the most expensive project: a $2.75 million replacement of the deck of the Kansas River bridge along County Road 1029 at Lecompton.

The annual fund likely would finance work on an average of two bridges a year, Browning said, which would mean each existing county bridge would last about 81 years.

“That means it’s perpetual,” Johnson said.

Whether the fund ever will materialize will be left up to commissioners, who are asking county staffers to come up with a list of the county’s most pressing construction and maintenance needs before formally taking up the issue.

“Obviously, we can’t just say, ‘Well, we need millions of dollars, so let’s get them,'” Johnson said. “We just have to figure out a way to do it in an orderly fashion — in some sort of a prioritized fashion — so that we don’t leave for the next generation a mess on our roads and bridges that makes it more costly for them.”

Johnson’s direction to Browning and Craig Weinaug, county administrator, said it all: “Here’s an $11 million check. What would you do first?”

Commissioners have set no deadline for receiving the answers.