The road to Lecompton will be 8.5 miles longer — at least through summer.

Douglas County Road 1029, which connects the Farmer’s Turnpike northwest of Lawrence to Lecompton, will close Monday for the second phase of a $1.8 million overhaul. Officials expect the road to reopen by the end of summer.

Crews from Perry-based Hamm Inc. will add paved shoulders, cut down the hills, fill in dips and flatten slopes of roadside drainage ditches to make conditions safer for drivers. The entire 2.75-mile stretch of two-lane road will be repaved.

The Farmer’s Turnpike’s “T” intersection with 1029 also will be transformed into a gentle curve, so traffic between Lawrence and Lecompton no longer will have to stop.

“It’s going to be a great project,” said Keith Browning, county engineer and director of public works.

The project will detour the 4,700 vehicles a day that use the route.

When crews closed the road for a few weeks in November, the temporary closing had an unintended effect: It steered hundreds of cars onto nearby side streets as drivers sought shorter routes around the construction.

The project’s official detour leads traffic from the Farmer’s Turnpike south to U.S. Highway 40, then west to County Road 1023, adding 8.5 miles to the trip into Lecompton.

County officials say they’re doing all they can to mitigate effects for those who live on nearby gravel roads.

Browning already has ordered dust-reducing materials to be applied to many of the roads. And last month, Douglas County commissioners imposed temporary speed limits for nine rural roads that will be expected to carry more traffic.

The affected roads’ limits will drop from 55 mph, to between 45 mph and 25 mph, depending on the location.

Sheriff Rick Trapp has promised to boost patrols and bolster enforcement of speed limits in the area as resources allow.