Eudora ? The reconstruction of a wider, smoother and safer Winchester Road is about to begin nearly six months after it was supposed to.

“It’s a big project with a lot of moving parts,” said Michael Yanez, city administrator. “Now we’ve got all the moving parts under control but one. Once we have that, we’ll be ready to build a road.”

Within a week, city officials expect to secure the final patch of right of way required for the project. Yanez said the owner of the property at the northwest edge of the road, the site of a former Christmas tree farm, would get a 1,000-foot-long stone retaining wall instead of the concrete barrier included in the project’s original plans.

“Now we’re ready to mobilize and get that thing moving,” he said.

The $804,000 project will replace a 0.79-mile section of Winchester between Kansas Highway 10 and County Road 442, also known as old K-10. The project originally was slated to begin in early April and be finished by Nov. 1.

The gravel road along Eudora’s western edge will get two lanes of pavement, plus turn lanes at the entrance to Eudora’s West School, which handles fourth, fifth and sixth grades. Curbs and gutters also will be added.

Officials hope to have the road done by early next year.

A number of factors held up the project, Mayor Ron Conner said. City officials needed to line up right of way from a dozen or so property owners along the road, and engineers had to adjust plans to reflect the preservation of trees, reconstruction of fences and relocation of drainage lines to accommodate property owners.

In exchange for the sensitivity to their concerns, Conner said, the property owners agreed not to charge the city for access to their properties.

“It’s an even trade,” he said. “Obviously, I would have liked to have been started earlier, but it’s just part of the process.”

R.D. Johnson Excavating Co. Inc. still holds the construction contract it was granted in March. The project had been a $695,226 job, but design modifications including turn lanes at the school boosted the cost to $804,000.

In all, the changes requested by property owners added $10,500 to the project, Yanez said.

“It’s worth it,” he said.

The Eudora school district contributed $70,000, Yanez said, and Douglas County commissioners agreed to spend up to $200,000 for engineering services, most of it to account for time dedicated by engineers in the county’s Public Works Department.

Misty Shrum, for one, isn’t all that concerned about who’s doing the work or how it’s being paid for. She’d just like to get it over with.

The day-care provider lives near the school and can see the road from her porch. She drives on Winchester a few times a week on her way to Lawrence.

But she acknowledges there also could be too much of a good thing.

“It’ll be good because all the potholes are rough on the cars, and all the dust is bad,” she said. “On the other hand, people drive up and down it so fast now that it’s going to get worse.

“But, yes, I’m anxious to see them get it done.”

Staff writer Mark Fagan can be reached

at 832-7188.