This rendering provided by Kansas University shows a proposed renovation of the Irving Hill bridge above Iowa Street that connects Daisy Hill to KU's West Campus.

By summer’s end, the Irving Hill Road bridge over Iowa Street will be bright blue with “Rock Chalk Jayhawk” on one side and “The University of Kansas” on the other.

That’s according to a plan announced Tuesday by KU.

Previously planned construction is scheduled to begin in May to improve the overpass, which links Daisy Hill and West Campus. In addition to the structural upgrades, the bridge’s girders and new railings will be painted official KU blue, with the lettering added in white.

This rendering provided by Kansas University shows a proposed renovation of the Irving Hill bridge above Iowa Street that connects Daisy Hill to KU's West Campus.

The goal is to turn the “eyesore” of a bridge into a landmark, KU said in its announcement.

“This is one of those unique opportunities, much like the reconstruction of Jayhawk Boulevard, to beautify our campus and create a landmark for the entire KU community while completing a much-needed upgrade to the campus infrastructure,” Jim Modig, Design and Construction Management director and university architect, said in a statement.

Construction plans call for replacing the bridge’s short side railings with taller and more attractive ones, widening the sidewalks, adding concrete barriers to separate pedestrians and cars, and adding new lighting and landscaping.

Funding for the physical bridge improvements is coming from KU’s rehab and repair budget, KU spokesman Gavin Young said. He said KU Endowment is seeking donors to pay for landscaping around the bridge and to help defray costs of the painting and lettering.

Construction is set to start May 18 and be finished by the end of July.

The university had hoped to complete the bridge project last summer but put it off to avoid creating more construction detours on Iowa Street at the time, Young said. He said KU also considered starting the project this spring, but leaving one lane of traffic open at a time would have been more costly than closing it, which the university will be able to do in the summer months.

The bridge is used heavily by KU on Wheels buses, though pedestrians also use it to cross over Iowa Street.

Foot traffic increased this year, as construction of two new residence halls on Daisy Hill shifted a sizable portion of student parking across Iowa to the Lied Center, Modig said.

“We heard from students who felt uncomfortable with the current bridge sidewalks and railings,” he said.

Planned improvements would not affect the height of the bridge’s clearance over Iowa Street.

The Irving Hill overpass was the location of a 2006 accident that killed one man and critically injured another who were standing on the upper deck of the Cat Tracker, a K-State fan bus. The men struck their heads on the underside of the bridge when the modified school bus passed beneath it.