Eudora ? Construction for the downtown revitalization project is set to begin Monday, but the project will take longer than the original 90-day estimate.

The project completion deadline is now the week before Christmas, although that’s the worst-case scenario.

RD Johnson Excavating Inc. of Lawrence told city leaders the project to reconstruct Main Street downtown should be finished in early November.

The project will take longer because the city added more improvements. Curbing and gutters and repaving of the street will extend one more block, and storm drain work will be done in the area of the Eudora police and fire stations in the 800 block of Main.

“On paper, RD Johnson thinks they’ll be done sooner than the deadline,” Eudora City Administrator Cheryl Beatty said. “Now, that’s if every little thing is done exactly like their subcontractors have planned. But they believe they can get ours at least 30 days prior to the deadline.”

Sidewalks will be added and lighting installed for the area spanning Seventh to Ninth streets along Main Street. Main Street also will be repaved and fitted with new curbs and gutters from Sixth to 10th streets.

Kansas Department of Transportation officials chose Eudora as one of 18 cities eligible for a transportation enhancement grant. The grant will cover 80 percent of the streetscape improvements. Engineers estimated the project would cost about $1.5 million, and the city had budgeted about $902,000 for its part.

The contractors will make a point of finishing curb and gutters as well as repaving of the road in the 800 and 900 blocks of Main Street before EudoraFest in early October. They also will work around the CPA Picnic, July 24 to 27.

The biggest headache for some could be the diverting of traffic to Church Street. Parking is presently allowed in the west side of the street, but the extra traffic will result in a parking ban on Church Street from Seventh to 10th streets.

However, work is being done to allow only local truck traffic entering the city from the north on Douglas County Road 1061.