Two semitrailers maneuver a roundabout on North Kasold Drive. The trucks are supposed to take the Farmer's Turnpike while the Iowa Street bridge is closed.

The closure of the Iowa Street bridge over Interstate 70 has meant heavy traffic for some Lawrence residents.

But it’s not just the amount of traffic that has increased. It’s the size of the vehicles, too. Residents have seen more semitrailers driving through their neighborhoods, and it’s making an impact.

With the bridge closed, most traffic has been detoured to cross the interstate either on North Kasold Drive or North Michigan Street. But trucks getting off the interstate and headed to the industrial park north of the turnpike are supposed to follow a different detour. Instead of getting off at the West Lawrence exit, trucks are supposed to exit at Lecompton and take the Farmer’s Turnpike, officially County Road 438, east to the industrial park, which includes the Kmart distribution center and Del Monte.

The city and the Kansas Turnpike Authority, which is rebuilding the Iowa Street bridge as part of a lane-widening project, decided on the detour route for truck traffic.

“We did a lot of things ahead of time trying to facilitate the detour,” said Lisa Callahan, director of public relations for the KTA.

The KTA took several measures to let truckers know about the detour. Such measures included message signs for a few weeks along the turnpike, directions for the detour at toll booths and contacting companies at the industrial park either by phone or postcard to let them know about the route, Callahan said. The project began in December and continues until June.

But judging by the tire ruts found in turf along the curve on North Michigan Street and the scuff marks on the roundabouts on North Kasold Drive, not everyone has followed the detour.

“Occasionally, there’s going to be one. Some independent trucker, going to Kmart, doesn’t know,” said Chuck Soules, the city’s director of public works.

As for damage along the roads, Soules said that if residents see a truck cause damage, they can try to call the truck company.

“We’ve been watching the road, we’ve been checking for damage,” Soules said. “If people have questions or problems with it, they need to call us.”

Soules said that trucks are not prohibited on North Kasold or North Michigan. But, he said, if trucks start using those roads regularly, the city could turn the streets into no-truck routes.

Both Soules and Callahan said they thought the roundabouts on Kasold and curve on Michigan would deter truckers from using those streets more than once.

“They’re not going to want to do that on a regular basis,” Callahan said.

For residents along Michigan and Kasold, the increase in traffic can be a nuisance. What concerns Julian Hornberger, who lives along River Ridge Road, just west of the Michigan Street curve, is the impact of the heavy trucks on the road.

“I just think, what’s it going to do to the road,” Hornberger said.

But Hornberger also sees a silver lining to the detour.

“We’ll have to have a garage sale, to catch all the traffic,” he said.