Lawrence is getting a $130 million Christmas present almost a quarter century in the making.

The Kansas Department of Transportation said last week that the east leg of the South Lawrence Trafficway remains on schedule and the new freeway should open before Thanksgiving. The six miles of highway will connect the east leg of Kansas Highway 10 to U.S. Highway 59. The long-awaited highway should be a boon to commuters and should significantly relieve traffic pressures on major Lawrence thoroughfares, including 23rd and Iowa streets.

Kim Qualls, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Transportation northeast district, said there is still significant work to be completed on the roadway, so an exact date for the opening hasn’t been identified, but beating the rush of holiday shopping is the target.

“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.”

The roadway looks to be nearly complete, but Qualls said bridge tasks, paving, permanent pavement markings, signing, grading and seeding still have to be done.

The trafficway has been on the drawing board since the early 1990s but was delayed for two decades by opposition from environmentalists and American Indian groups fighting construction of the road through the Baker Wetlands. After an agreement was reached, construction began in November 2013.

As part of the agreement, KDOT installed barrier walls between the South Lawrence Trafficway and the wetlands to minimize traffic noise. The walls are installed near the intersection of 31st and Louisiana streets and along the same stretch between the freeway and 31st Street.

The trafficway should be an economic boost to Lawrence, providing easy access to southside retail not only to the city’s residents but also residents of other cities. The momentum created by the opening of the highway will spur retail development in the area. Perhaps it’s even an opportunity for the city to reconsider the KTen Crossing project, a 250,000-square-foot retail development just south of the intersection of the trafficway and Iowa streets that the city rejected earlier this year.

The reality is the highway is going to shift Lawrence’s retail landscape significantly. That shift should be good for Lawrence, making the Thanksgiving opening a nice holiday gift.