Adam Helmerichs, of Diamond Cutting and Grinding of Summerfield, cuts across concrete Monday afternoon on the Kansas River Bridge north of Lecompton. It should take about a week to cut across the bridge.

The Kansas River bridge at Lecompton closed Monday, and while residents and businesses in that area are reconciled to dealing with it, they still aren’t happy.

“It sucks,” said Mae Siroky, manager at Golden Pizza Co. in Perry.

Siroky lives in Lecompton and now faces a 30-minute drive to work. It used to take five minutes.

“Of course, the gas prices just went up,” Siroky said.

The bridge will be closed for redecking until at least Aug. 10, according to a contract Douglas County has with A.M. Cohron & Son Inc. The company bid $2.518 million for the work.

While the bridge is closed, drivers traveling between Perry and Lecompton can detour using U.S. Highway 24 and Interstate 70.

Douglas County will pay for 88.69 percent of the project’s cost, with Jefferson County paying 11.31 percent. The shares are based on the counties’ total assessed valuations.

Meanwhile, Dorothy Shaner, a Lecompton woman in her 90s, said she was upset because a Perry teenager who delivers her medication every day must take the long detour.

“All that just for two pills,” Shaner said, exasperated. “I told her to forget the pills. I’ll just take aspirin.”

Businesses were waiting to see what the closure would mean.

“It’s going to have an impact; we’re just not sure what it will be,” said Gary Jump, who works in Wooden’s Outdoor Furniture store in Perry. The store has been open a little more than a year.

“It takes about three years to establish a new business,” Jump said. “This is coming at a really bad time.”

John Byers, manager at the Perry Thriftway, said his store normally gets 10 to 20 checks a day from Lecompton residents. He hopes visitors to Perry Lake will help take up the slack.

“Last week, everybody came over here to stock up,” Byers said.

Perry-Lecompton students did not have classes Monday because it was a teacher in-service day. While the bridge is closed, the district will run shuttle buses to complement regular buses, Superintendent Steve Johnston said. On Thursday and Friday, the district made a trial run.

“The first day didn’t go so well, but the second day went better,” Johnston said. “Some of the younger students got confused. They needed to practice.”