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.

Closure of a portion of Tennessee Street near Old West Lawrence is scheduled to begin Monday and will likely last until midsummer, the City of Lawrence said in a news release Thursday.

Starting Monday, contractors working on the Jayhawk Watershed Middle Reach Project will fully close Tennessee Street at Eighth Street. Additionally, the road will be closed to through-traffic between Sixth Street and Ninth Street, and Eighth Street will be closed from Ohio Street to Kentucky Street.

The release said the traffic detour would go to Vermont Street between Sixth and Ninth streets.

The work is part of a collection of stormwater upgrades to the watershed that include 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.

The stormwater project will also feature additional infrastructure improvements, such as water mains, sanitary sewers and street maintenance. Future work on the project will also impact other parts of the Old West Lawrence neighborhood later in the year. A city map outlines where and when portions of the project will take place.

The city anticipates the closure at Tennessee Street to last through midsummer 2025, depending on weather or other delays.

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.