The Iowa Street bridge over the Kansas Turnpike will close in early December for reconstruction.
The bridge will be closed for about six to eight months while a new bridge is built. The reconstruction is part of the Kansas River bridges and interchange plaza improvement project.
No specific day for the Iowa bridge closing has been set. It will depend on when the currently closed North Michigan Street bridge reopens in early December. These are the only two bridges that carry local traffic in Lawrence that are being reconstructed for the project. A detour route will be posted.
Variable messaging signs have been put in place along the Iowa Street route to alert businesses and motorists that the bridge closing is nearing, said Lisa Callahan, spokeswoman for the Kansas Turnpike Authority.
Comments
Keith 5 years, 5 months ago
Get ready for big semis down Michigan street. It will also be fun watching them try to get around the new roundabouts on North Kasold.
consumer1 5 years, 5 months ago
Who is paying for it, since it is part of the KTA property? Are hiway taxes paying for it? Will toll increase because of it?? KTA is a major industry and since it exist to generate funds for maint and upkeep, I want to know who is paying for it? Tax payers should not be.
pissedinlawrence 5 years, 5 months ago
This is gonna suck.
wysiwyg69 5 years, 5 months ago
boy I bet dompton is psssd
jonas 5 years, 5 months ago
So this means anyone living past Peterson will have to go down Peterson to Kasold, and go all the way up to Lakeview and go back around past the Business Center and Budweiser factory to get home, right? Am I thinking of the right bridge?
The_Voice_of_Reason 5 years, 5 months ago
I'm gonna go one step farther and say it will suck AND blow...
geekin_topekan 5 years, 5 months ago
No,hopefully the Michigan street bridge will be open before this one closes. I guarantee trucks won't be coming down North Michigan or Kasold.All SHlumberger,Kmart,Packer etcetc heavy truck traffic will be detoured to the K-10 interchange.
ontheotherhand 5 years, 5 months ago
Pardon my brainfart, gentle readers. Is this the bridge at the West Lawrence exit? If so, does this mean we can still use one side of the turnpike or will the entire turnpike shut down?
Thanks!
craigers 5 years, 5 months ago
I can't wait to see the semis make the turn where Michigan intersects Riverridge. Glad I don't live in those houses on the corner.
coolmarv 5 years, 5 months ago
ontheotherhand (Anonymous) says:
Pardon my brainfart, gentle readers. Is this the bridge at the West Lawrence exit? If so, does this mean we can still use one side of the turnpike or will the entire turnpike shut down?
Thanks!
I'm pretty sure they are going to close the tunkpike down for a couple of months.
On a more truthfull note, the contractor working on the Michigan bridge said Michigan bridge would be open before the Iowa bridge closes the week of Dec. 10.
salad 5 years, 5 months ago
Maybe they could take out the bridge, put in ramps, and let people jump the gap, "Dukes of Hazzard" style! I bet they'd consider it in Missouri...
mommaeffortx2 5 years, 5 months ago
good one salad.
average 5 years, 5 months ago
ontheotherhand -
The project you're thinking of will happen in 10 or 12 months. At that point, you will be unable to get to the West Lawrence tollbooth from KC or from that tollbooth to Topeka.
The imminent project is the "North Iowa" bridge, just north and just west of the Hallmark plant. Semis from K-Mart, Purina, Lawrence Paper, Packerware, Reuter, etc generally use this bridge to get to the Turnpike
75x55 5 years, 5 months ago
The problem won't be the semi's turning from Riverridge onto Michigan, it will be the semi's trying to turn onto ANYTHING after that. There's just no room for them as the street tightens up. Pity the poor Kasold roundabouts - they'll be getting their pretty curbs demolished.
I predict MASSIVE chaos if semi's are allowed to go anywhere but west on Farmers Turnpike to Lecompton exit. Post it, and put some LPD folks with a big tablet of tickets on Riverridge and Kasold. It'll be the only way to keep these trucks from creating daily mayhem.
Keith 5 years, 5 months ago
Yep, the big flashing signs at the bridge don't say a thing about cars only, they just announce to the world that the Michigan St. bridge is opening and the Iowa St. one is closing. This should be interesting. Even if they route the semis down Peterson, what are they going to do if they can't negotiate a roundabout, climb Kasold to 6th? That's one steep hill for a full loaded truck.
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