photo by: Nick Krug

The east leg of the South Lawrence Trafficway, left, is shown on Tuesday, June 21, 2016. The highway, which runs parallel to 31st Street, remains under construction and is expected to open this fall.

The east leg of the South Lawrence Trafficway remains on schedule to be completed in November, and the goal is to have the freeway open before Thanksgiving, a Kansas Department of Transportation spokeswoman said.

The project has a total contract cost of about $130 million, and the six miles of highway will connect the east leg of Kansas Highway 10 to U.S. 59.

photo by: Nick Krug

The east leg of the South Lawrence Trafficway, left, is shown on Tuesday, June 21, 2016. The highway, which runs parallel to 31st Street, remains under construction and is expected to open this fall.

Because there is still a lot of work to be completed on the trafficway, an exact date for the opening isn’t yet known, according to Kim Qualls, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Transportation northeast district.

“Typically when we are opening up projects in the month of November, we like to try to get them open before Thanksgiving,” Qualls said. “So that would be our target, is to definitely get it open before holiday travel.”

Remaining work on the project includes final bridge tasks, paving, permanent pavement markings, signing, grading and permanent seeding, according to Qualls.

Work on the trafficway began in November 2013 after nearly two decades of litigation and protests. After environmentalists and Native American groups vigorously opposed construction of the road through the Baker Wetlands, an agreement was decided on to mitigate effects to the area. As part of that agreement, KDOT installed barrier walls along the trafficway.

The walls run between the South Lawrence Trafficway and the wetlands and will minimize noise from traffic. Walls are installed near the intersection of 31st and Louisiana streets and along the same stretch between the freeway and 31st Street.

photo by: Nick Krug

A segment of the multi-use path that runs near the South Lawrence Trafficway awaits repair.

The multi-use path that runs near the trafficway and along the wetlands-side of the wall is also waiting on some repairs before being opened. Several parts of the sidewalk have had to be redone recently, with some of the most substantial work yet to occur near Haskell Avenue.

Water has been running over a segment of the sidewalk near Haskell Avenue, and Qualls said a new pipe is going to be installed and new concrete poured. She said that work will also be done before the November opening.

Once the trafficway is open, it will move existing K-10 onto a new alignment that will begin at the south junction of the U.S. 59 and K-10 interchange and reconnect with existing K-10 in east Lawrence.