Starting Monday, drivers should anticipate a new ramp when using the westbound exit of the Kansas Turnpike’s East Lawrence interchange. Drivers will exit earlier on a longer ramp that doesn’t loop around like the current one.

As part of a major reconstruction project, the Kansas Turnpike Authority expects traffic to use the replacement ramp for about a year.

For traffic heading from Kansas City toward Topeka and exiting at mile marker 204, vehicles will come to a stop sign at the bottom of the ramp and then turn left to get to the toll plaza. When making the left-hand turn, vehicles will have to cross oncoming traffic that is using the interchange’s entrance ramp to head west toward Topeka.

The Kansas Turnpike Authority requests that while traveling through the area, drivers be especially attentive, obey traffic signs and watch for construction workers and slow moving vehicles.

The construction work is part of a $130 million project to replace the turnpike’s bridges that cross the Kansas River.