As ramps along K-10 are scheduled to close next week due to work on the South Lawrence Trafficway expansion project, Kansas Department of Transportation officials say the project is still on track to be completed on time.

Kate Craft, a public information officer with KDOT, told the Journal-World in an email response the project is still “on track” to finish in late 2028.

As the Journal-World reported, in summer 2024, KDOT awarded an approximately $170 million bid to Missouri-based Emery Sapp & Sons to expand the SLT from a two-lane road to a four-lane road with a median, and work began on the expansion that October. Craft said the project has stayed on budget, with the total cost expected to be approximately $171 million.

Starting Monday, two exit ramps on K-10 in Lawrence are scheduled to close as part of the expansion project, Craft said, and will be closed “until late May.” The U.S. 40/6th Street ramp onto eastbound K-10 and the eastbound K-10 exit ramp to Bob Billings Parkway will close until late May.

Detours for the ramps will direct motorists to 6th Street, Wakarusa Drive and Bob Billings Parkway, according to a KDOT press release shared Thursday. Message boards and signage will be in place to alert and direct motorists, according to the release.

Along with those upcoming closures, Craft said there would be some “minor traffic shifts” that will be made later this summer.

While this project is well underway, another portion of the SLT expansion is yet to begin.. The second project will be started at the interchange that connects the SLT with the Kansas Turnpike northwest of Lawrence, commonly known as the Lecompton interchange. The Journal-World previously reported that KDOT said work would start in 2026, but they eventually backed away from that timeline because of “logistical and funding issues.”

Craft said that project is “currently scheduled to be let for bid” this September. Once the bid is awarded, construction plans and traffic information will be determined by the awarded contractor, according to Craft.