A bridge that carries traffic across the Wakarusa River midway between Lawrence and Eudora now is targeted for replacement instead of rehabilitation, a change expected to add expense and driver inconvenience to a project set for two years away.

The bridge, along Douglas County Road 1057, would be replaced for an estimated $1.94 million. The federal government would be expected to pick up about $1.34 million, leaving the rest to be paid by county taxpayers.

The new bridge would be wide enough to retain one lane each way for traffic, while adding paved shoulders on each side and enough overall strength to handle the heaviest of truck loads.

The bridge now handles about 1,300 vehicles per day, a total projected to increase to 7,000 per day within 20 years. Once the new U.S. Highway 59 opens south of Lawrence, vehicles would continue to use County Road 458 and 1057 to connect with Kansas Highway 10.

“It’s a primary route, and certainly an important route,” said Keith Browning, county engineer and director of public works. “We would anticipate a lot more trucks using those roads. I don’t know that it will increase once U.S. 59 is completed, but at some point — if there’s no bypass around the city of Lawrence — we see that as a possible route that people (increasingly) will use.”

The existing bridge was built in 1957, and its deck has shown signs of deterioration, Browning said. Six years ago, county officials originally forecast spending as little as $445,000 to replace the bridge deck, but an $18,000 engineering study later determined that such work would be insufficient.

Even with a new deck, the old bridge simply would not be strong enough to handle trucks with even normal loads, Browning said — a shortcoming that would disqualify the project from being financed using federal money.

So the plan now turns to replacement. Wednesday afternoon, county commissioners will consider sending official documents about the project to the Kansas Department of Transportation that would clear the way for the job to be offered to contractors in January 2012.

Commissioners meet at 4 p.m. at the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Mass.

Construction likely would begin that March and be finished by year’s end, Browning said. All traffic would be detoured during construction.