A 37-year-old Ottawa man, Terry Star, was killed Wednesday in a single-vehicle rollover accident on U.S. Highway 59 near North 700 Road, about six miles south of Lawrence.

The accident happened shortly before 6 a.m. Wednesday, according to emergency dispatchers. Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical units on the scene reported the vehicle had left the highway and suffered major damage.

Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies and Kansas Highway Patrol troopers were investigating the accident.

A report from the highway patrol Wednesday evening said Star’s vehicle had struck an embankment and appeared to have been airborne and overturned at least once before coming to a stop. The report states Star had been wearing his seat belt.

The stretch of two-lane highway is slated to expand to four lanes as part of a major Kansas Department of Transportation road project between Lawrence and Ottawa. The Douglas County portion is not scheduled to be complete until some time in 2012.

Kimberly Qualls, a KDOT spokeswoman, said Wednesday morning that the area where the crash occurred is not currently an active construction zone. But the speed limit is 55 mph along that stretch of the highway, as it is through the entire project.