Courtesy: City of Lawrence

The Haskell Hassle may be over sooner than we expected. If you aren’t familiar with the Haskell Hassle, that’s the phrase I’ve coined to describe the traffic mess that has resulted from the closure of a key portion of Haskell Avenue south of 23rd Street. (I thought for sure the Haskell Hassle T-shirts were going to fund my kids’ college education. I guess I should have set the T-shirt stand up on a part of the road that wasn’t closed.)

Regardless, the word at City Hall these days is that the closed part of Haskell Avenue is scheduled to reopen in July. That’s different than what has been reported previously. The city’s official infrastructure report warns motorists that the road may be closed until the spring of 2015.

But City Engineer David Cronin has told city commissioners that the latest information he has from the Kansas Department of Transportation is that the road likely will open in July. Even though Haskell is a city street, KDOT is the boss on this project because the closure is part of the South Lawrence Trafficway construction.

This may mean our little trips in the country may be coming to an end. Perhaps those of you on the western side of the city aren’t familiar with this, but motorists on the eastern edge of the city have been taking some pretty creative routes to get to the 31st and Haskell area. A popular one has been to take O’Connell Road and then hook up with a gravel road that is officially known as North 1250. Unofficially it is known as the Retirement Plan for Every Shock and Alignment Shop in Town. The road has become a bit bumpy. As traffic congestion has grown at 23rd and Louisiana, this route has become particularly popular for some people in my house looking for a short cut to get to the shopping shrine known as South Iowa Street. (There are also some other routes. Through the cow pasture, cut the barbed wire, hit the ramp at 30 miles an hour to get over the creek . . . wait, I’m probably not supposed to talk about this.)

But don’t worry, once Haskell Avenue opens, you’ll still have opportunities to take some circuitous routes through Lawrence. That’s because, as we’ve previously reported, the eastern part of 31st Street is set to close once Haskell reopens. Perhaps you are confused: 31st Street is being closed because it is being relocated to the south as part of the SLT project. When it reopens — perhaps in mid 2015 — it will be in its new location, and it won’t end at Haskell Avenue. The new 31st Street will stretch all the way to O’Connell Road.

But there will be closures in the meantime. If you suffer from low blood pressure, look at the map below to get a sense of what closures will be in place for probably about a year. Or click on this link to get a larger view.

The takeaway from that map is that my wife is shopping for a four-wheeler with a U-Haul trailer to get back and forth from the South Iowa Shopping district. Cronin said his understanding is that 31st Street between Louisiana and Ousdahl will close sometime in June. The rest of 31st Street between Louisiana and Haskell will close in July, after Haskell Avenue has been reopened. So, you’ll be able to travel on Haskell, but you won’t be able to turn onto 31st Street. You’ll also be able to travel on Louisiana, but you won’t be able to turn onto 31st Street.

If you are on the eastern side of the city, you could drive down 23rd Street and turn at Iowa, but you may want to remember that 23rd and Iowa is the site of a major reconstruction project into November. But city officials are still going to encourage motorists to take that route. Cronin said it may not be as bad as you think. During much of the project — but not all — westbound 23rd Street will have two lanes of traffic and one left-hand turn lane open.

Another option Cronin has suggest is to take Haskell Avenue extended to County Route 458 just south of Lawrence. Then take County Route 458 over to U.S. Highway 59, which leads right into the South Iowa Street shopping district.

So, maybe our drives in the country aren’t over yet, but I wouldn’t count on it. When city commissioners were being briefed on the situation, Commissioner Terry Riordan interjected. He pointed out that 27th Street will still be open. Indeed, 27th Street between Louisiana and Iowa Street will be open. But City Manager David Corliss jumped in and said city officials wouldn’t want to do anything to encourage that as a detour. The area along 27th Street is residential, and homeowners there probably wouldn’t appreciate the thousands of extra cars per day.

But whether city officials encourage it or not, I suspect residents along 27th Street ought to brace themselves for what could be heavier than normal traffic for the next several months. But don’t worry, I’ll do my part: I’ll ask my wife to put a better muffler on the four-wheeler.

In other news and notes from around town:

• I don’t yet have an opening date for Dick’s Sporting Goods at 27th and Iowa street, but I’m getting a certain tingling in my cleats that suggests news on that front is coming soon. (I hope that is what the tingling is.)

Actually, I got a note from a Dick’s Sporting Goods representative that said they expect to announce the grand opening date for the store next week. That doesn’t mean the store is opening next week, but it is probably a good indication that we’re only a few weeks away. Company officials have said they’ll have a big three-day grand opening celebration that will include a “variety of giveaways and special appearances in-store.” I will let you know when I hear the date.