Replacing a well-traveled but aging bridge over the Wakarusa River remains a priority for Douglas County leaders.

The bridge west of Eudora, on County Road 1057 a half-mile south of Kansas Highway 10, is one of four bridges on the county’s five-year list of federally funded projects.

The list is updated each year and submitted to the Kansas Department of Transportation, which allocates the funds.

KDOT estimates more than $2.36 million in federal funds might be available to Douglas County during the five-year period 2009 to 2013. Most of that would be required for the County Road 1057 bridge, county Public Works Director and Engineer Keith Browning said. Because of that, no new bridges were added to the latest list being submitted to KDOT.

“We’re assuming that is replacing the bridge as it is now,” Browning told county commissioners on Monday.

The bridge currently carries two lanes of traffic, as does County Road 1057.

In case federal funds are not immediately available, the county should prepare to take steps to ensure that the bridge lasts for several more years, Browning said. He said he is talking to the sheriff’s office about enforcing the bridge’s 15-ton load limit.

Other bridge projects on the current 2008 to 2012 plan are:

¢ Replacement of County Road 1023 bridge over Rock Creek in the southwestern corner of the county, $581,000. Project is currently under way.

¢ Replacement of the bridge at 964 E. 1000 Road, southwest of Lawrence near Lone Star Lake over Washington Creek, $533,000.

¢ Replacement of the Captain Creek bridge east of Eudora. Completed.