photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Businesses along the Ninth Street corridor, pictured on Oct. 30, 2025, are concerned about a pending multi-month closure of the street.

The City of Lawrence will close one block of Ninth Street starting Monday to begin work on a stormwater project.

The work will close Ninth Street between Indiana Street and Louisiana Street, and the city said the closure is expected to last into spring 2026. The closure is a part of the Jayhawk Watershed Stormwater Project — an approximately $20 million project to replace storm sewers in central Lawrence that are more than a century old. The work on Ninth Street will extend west to Mississippi Street in early 2026.

As part of the project, the city will also reconfigure part of Ninth Street from Illinois Street to Vermont Street to reduce the lanes designated for vehicles from four to three lanes: one lane of traffic going westbound, one lane going eastbound and a turning lane in the middle — while adding bike lanes on each side until Kentucky Street. That plan was approved by the City Commission in October 2024, as the Journal-World reported.

Local business owners have expressed concern about how the project will affect their businesses. The city said that there will still be access to businesses in the surrounding area, but on-street parking on Ninth Street will not be available. In terms of future closures, city officials in October are weighing two options: keeping the stretch closed until July 2026 or temporarily reopening the stretch from April 2026 to December 2026 before closing it again. The City Commission is expected to make a decision on the future project timeline later this year.

Route 3 for Lawrence Transit, which runs from north-central Lawrence down Ninth Street to downtown, will change to accommodate the construction. It will divert to 11th Street between Ohio and Mississippi streets before returning to the regular Ninth Street route. Temporary bus stops will be added near Ohio Street and Mississippi Street for access to Ninth Street locations.

For more information about the project, including construction notices, access maps and parking options, you can visit the city’s website.