photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

Crews work on a water main at the intersection of Seventh and Tennessee streets. A project focusing on stormwater upgrades in the area will close Tennessee Street from Sixth to Ninth Streets starting in mid-April.

Roadwork along Tennessee Street near Old West Lawrence will close portions of the one-way artery to through traffic in mid-April as part of a large-scale stormwater project.

Tennessee Street already has one lane closed between Sixth Street and Ninth Street because of work on a water main in the parking lane of the street, Nick Hoyt, Lawrence’s lead program manager on this project, told the Journal-World. Hoyt said that right now the city is waiting to get pre-cast concrete structures for new storm sewers. Those are expected to be delivered the week of April 14.

Once that occurs, Hoyt said, Tennessee Street will be entirely closed to through traffic from Sixth Street to Ninth Street. Hoyt said traffic would be detoured to Vermont Street between Sixth and Ninth streets. Additionally, portions of Eighth Street will be closed.

Hoyt said closures on Tennessee Street would likely last into the summer, but he hoped that at least one lane of Tennessee Street would be reopened to traffic in June.

The work is part of the Jayhawk Watershed Middle Reach Project, a collection of stormwater upgrades to the watershed that includes four projects near the University of Kansas campus. In February, the City Commission approved a $17.3 million construction bid for this stormwater project that will replace a stormwater tunnel from just north of Eighth and Tennessee streets to the intersection of Ninth and Indiana streets, as the Journal-World reported.

Because of the massive disruption of replacing the current stormwater infrastructure with a new reinforced concrete structure, the project is combining it with other infrastructure improvements, such as water mains, sanitary sewers and street maintenance.

The entire stormwater project will continue until the end of 2026, Hoyt said, but work will also eventually take place around the intersection of Ninth and Mississippi streets. Hoyt said “a lot of utility work” is needed in that area as part of the project; it’s hoped that it will be finished before the KU football season.

Hoyt said projects around Ninth and Mississippi would likely start in May, but the timeline is not entirely clear for that portion. While the plans have at least one lane open in each direction along Ninth Street throughout the project, the construction work will create “a lot of impact to Ninth Street this summer,” Hoyt said.

Along with the construction along Ninth Street, the project includes a redesign to the general traffic pattern on the road. Last October, commissioners voted 4-1 to approve a “road diet” on Ninth from Illinois Street to Vermont Street, as the Journal-World reported.

The redesign will reduce the total number of lanes for vehicles from four to three — making one lane of traffic going westbound, one lane going eastbound and a turning lane in the middle — and add bike lanes on each side until Kentucky Street. Portions of the bike lane will be separated from cars with physical “zebra” dividers.

The work on the project will also occur through much of the year in the Old West Lawrence neighborhood. A city map outlines where and when portions of the project will take place. Hoyt said the heaviest construction along Ninth Street was expected to be in 2026 and to last through much of the year.

photo by: City of Lawrence

A map depicting the aspects of the Jayhawk Watershed Project with a projected timeline of when phases of the project will start.