Kansas Department of Transportation knows where the South Lawrence Trafficway is supposed to go.

Now the department is conducting detailed surveys to pinpoint a specific alignment for the 5-mile stretch of highway, which would connect U.S. Highway 59 and Kansas Highway 10 at the southeastern edge of the city.

“We’re trying to identify the portions of right-of-way that will be necessary when the trafficway is built,” said Corky Armstrong, engineering manager for the department’s State Road Office. “We need to identify what’s required, first, before we even start looking at what the costs are. We just want to identify areas that we would be required to buy.

“We haven’t identified any money to buy the right-of-way or to construct anything. Probably, depending on priorities, the next highway bill would be the earliest we would have any money to do anything. And (the trafficway) may not be high enough on the priority list to fund the right-of-way or construction.”

A new highway bill is no sure thing either, he said.

“It may be next year or 10 years from now,” Armstrong said. “It’s all up to the Legislature.”