Area residents will meet tonight to discuss the consequences of renovating the Kansas River bridge here in 2007.

City Councilman Bruce Liese called the meeting, which will be at 7 p.m. in the Lecompton Community Building.

At a similar meeting last year with Douglas County commissioners, virtually all the residents attending said they wanted one lane of the bridge to stay open during the work. Liese said he wanted to give people one more chance to speak out. County commissioners are not scheduled to attend.

On June 28, county commissioners from Douglas and Jefferson counties will meet to discuss the project. The counties will split the estimated $4 million project cost based on their respective property valuations.

The bridge work would take little more than four months to complete, if the bridge is completely closed. That would cut the cost by about $600,000. But residents say the bridge is the key link between the Lecompton and Perry communities, businesses and the Lecompton-Perry school district. Keeping a lane open would extend the renovation to about 10 months.