Lecompton ? A long-awaited project to overhaul a busy road between Lawrence and Lecompton will have to wait a little longer.

Plans to upgrade Douglas County Road 1029, from the Farmers Turnpike to Lecompton, will be delayed at least eight months as county officials prepare to acquire land for construction.

Officials had hoped to hire a contractor for the project in February, but the goal recently was pushed back to September 2003 as county engineers grapple with increasingly complicated plans and more realistic time predictions for acquiring land and moving utility lines.

And that means the road’s 4,700 daily travelers likely won’t be detoured by construction until February or March 2004.

“It’s going to take a little longer, but it’s going to be a much better final project,” said Keith Browning, county engineer and director of Public Works.

The project, on the county’s five-year capital improvement plan since 1998, is expected to cost about $2.3 million for construction. The Kansas Department of Transportation will finance 80 percent of the construction cost, with the county picking up 20 percent.

The county also is responsible for paying all costs connected with acquiring land, moving utilities and drawing detailed plans. In all, the county has set aside $761,000 for its share of the project costs.

As planned, the 2.75-mile section of road will get several adjustments to improve driver safety. Paved shoulders will be added to about a quarter of the road section, while the steepness of several hills along the way will be trimmed to help drivers see better.

Originally, the project was expected to rebuild less than a half-mile of the road, Browning said. But as traffic counts continued to rise  traffic is up 27 percent since the Kansas Turnpike’s Lecompton interchange opened in 1996  engineers decided that a little more than two miles would require complete reconstruction; the rest will get a fresh coat of pavement.

The current project includes plans for a curve to connect County Road 1029 with the Farmers Turnpike, so that traffic moving between Lawrence and Lecompton  going from east to north, and from north to east  no longer would have to stop for crossing traffic.