photo by: John English

The new Kansas Highway 10 interchange at Sixth Street, with a diverging diamond layout, is pictured in this view from an airplane looking northwest. It was set to open Monday, Sept. 9, 2024.

UPDATED 4:55 P.M. SEPT. 9, 2024

The U.S. Highway 40-Kansas Highway 10 interchange in west Lawrence reopened to traffic with a new diverging diamond layout — the first of its kind in Lawrence.

The Monday opening was sooner than was originally expected, the city of Lawrence said in a press release. As the Journal-World reported, the intersection closed for the reconstruction project in early June and was expected to fully reopen by October.

photo by: Shawn Valverde/Special to the Journal-World

The new Kansas Highway 10 interchange at 6th Street, with a diverging diamond layout, is pictured on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024.

The interchange — which provides access to K-10 Highway and Lawrence’s Sixth Street, which is also U.S. Highway 40 — is a project of the Kansas Department of Transportation, and its layout might be unfamiliar to some Lawrence residents. It crosses two directions of traffic from the non-freeway road to the opposite side on both sides of the bridge at the freeway, requiring traffic on the freeway overpass and underpass to briefly drive on the opposite side of the road from what is customary.

The intersection improvements were part of a $14 million KDOT project that centered on the Sixth and K-10 interchange, which serves as a major gateway to Lawrence with Rock Chalk Park, LMH Health and other attractions near the intersection.

The design of the interchange made the project unique in Lawrence. The diverging diamond interchange has been used frequently in Kansas City, but hadn’t yet been implemented in Lawrence. KDOT engineers chose to go with the diverging diamond design after determining it would enhance safety and mobility by reducing potential crash points at intersections and would allow more vehicles to move through the intersection.

In addition to the improvements made for vehicles, the project also incudes a large pedestrian walkway that is built through the center lane of the bridge that spans K-10 Highway. The walkway includes concrete barriers on both sides to separate pedestrians from passing traffic.

The city said that crews are still working on parts of the project, and intermittent lane closures could occur in the coming weeks.

“Motorists should stay aware and plan for the possibility of minor delays,” the city’s release said.

You can see more information about the interchange project at ike.ksdot.gov/us40-k10-interchange-improvements.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Traffic travels on the new diverging diamond interchange at Sixth Street and Kansas Highway 10 in west Lawrence on Sept. 9, 2024.

photo by: Shawn Valverde/Special to the Journal-World

The new Kansas Highway 10 interchange at 6th Street, with a diverging diamond layout, is pictured on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024.

photo by: Shawn Valverde/Special to the Journal-World

The new Kansas Highway 10 interchange at 6th Street, with a diverging diamond layout, is pictured on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024.