photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

The corner of Mississippi and Ninth Streets in Lawrence on Feb. 17, 2026. City officials announced the extension of the closure along Ninth Street as part of construction work on a stormwater project.

The City of Lawrence extended the closure of Ninth Street near downtown an additional block west to accommodate further construction.

The city closed Ninth Street from Louisiana Street to Mississippi Street to traffic on Tuesday as part of the work on the Jayhawk Watershed Middle Reach Project — a $22.1 million project to replace storm sewers in central Lawrence that are over a century old.

As the Journal-World reported, construction work to replace the sewers completely closed a block of Ninth Street between Louisiana Street and Indiana Street began in December 2025. Michael Leos, a communications specialist with the city’s Municipal Services and Operations department, told the Journal-World via email the closure along Ninth Street is expected to be closed going into Summer 2026, but it will reopen to traffic “for the beginning of the KU football season.”

The closure Tuesday had seen orange construction cones blocking out the middle two lanes of Ninth Street between Mississippi Streets and Indiana streets, but the furthest right lane for drivers heading east towards downtown Lawrence was not closed to allow for access to local businesses, including the restaurant Big Mill. As the Journal-World reported, the closures along Ninth Street have impacted several businesses in different ways, and the city has aimed to provide temporary solutions — like adding in additional parking just east of the closure — to try to minimize disruptions.

Leos said work on the entire Jayhawk Watershed Middle Reach Project, which includes rerouting a storm water sewer tunnel through Watson Park instead of the Outdoor Aquatic Center and adding a a new tunnel to the corner of Ninth and Mississippi Streets, is on track “to be fully completed by March 2027.”