A commuter link between Lawrence and Topeka is about to reopen, fresh off a $1.4 million overhaul to improve safety and make its upkeep more efficient.

A 2.3-mile section of Stull Road, from Douglas County Road 1029 to the Fox Run subdivision less than a mile east of Stull, is being rebuilt to include modern features.

Contractors closed the stretch to through traffic beginning in August. The move has detoured 3,600 vehicles a day, but officials hope the inconvenience will pay off in the years ahead.

“A good road system is very important — from a safety aspect, for a time factor and maintenance and upkeep,” said Jere McElhaney, a Douglas County commissioner. “Those are three very important items.

“This is an important step.”

When it reopens to through traffic — likely in early May — the road will feature wider lanes and new road-side shoulders, both designed to help drivers avoiding veering into ditches. The road had been 24 feet wide, or just enough to squeeze in two lanes, each barely 12 feet wide.

The rebuilt road will have slightly wider lanes, plus shoulders on each side that are 6 feet wide. The shoulders will be paved with asphalt, while ditches on the sides will be less severe.

“It isn’t about making the road look prettier or making it nicer,” said Craig Weinaug, county administrator. “It’s about moving as many people as possible as quickly and as safely as possible.”

The project also will trim the tops off hills and fill in the deepest dips. The work should improve sight lines for drivers, cutting back the number of blind curves and extending their ability to see cars pulling onto the road from driveways along the route.

“We’re providing safety for our citizens,” McElhaney said. “Once this road is completed, it will be easier for our county crews to maintain and keep ditches cleared of debris.”

The project is being financed through a program administered by the Kansas Department of Transportation. The state is covering 80 percent of construction cost, leaving county officials to pay for engineering, access to properties along the route and other necessary services.

The original project called for adding new pavement only to an 0.8 mile stretch of the area, formally known as County Road 442.

But county and state officials worked together to secure another $86,000 to add a fresh coat of pavement to the remaining 1.5 miles. The new pavement will cover an existing road surface that has shown cracks and other signs of deterioration.

While safety concerns are driving the project, county officials also are looking forward to a new-look road that successfully embraces increasingly urban demands in a traditional rural setting.

“It’s going to look pretty nice when it’s all done,” said Doug Stephens, the county’s project manager for Stull Road.

In the end, McElhaney said, the road will be in solid shape to take its place as a vital link in the area’s transportation network — a system that will continue to be upgraded in the years ahead.

Commissioners already have plans to upgrade roads connecting Lecompton to Lawrence, and officials continue to scout out possibilities for future work.

“Any road and infrastructure going into the city of Lawrence, or into any of the other major towns in our county, is important,” McElhaney said. “It’s essential for our county.”