If you've sat in traffic on the two-lane stretch of K-10 on the west side of Lawrence, help is on the way. It'll just take a couple more construction seasons to get there.
The Kansas Department of Transportation has awarded the contract for the last piece of the K-10/South Lawrence Trafficway West Leg expansion. According to KDOT's Oct. 1 announcement, the agency approved a $104.7 million bid from Bettis Asphalt & Construction Inc. of Topeka in its September bid letting. KDOT said initial project work is planned to begin next month, which means November.
What the north project covers
The north project will widen K-10 to four lanes between U.S. 40/Sixth Street and North 1800 Road, also known as Farmer's Turnpike. It also includes rebuilding the existing interchange where K-10 meets Interstate 70 and the Kansas Turnpike.
Drivers shouldn't expect big changes right away. KDOT says the public may notice only minimal construction work in the first phase, with greater impacts expected to begin in early 2027.
This is the second half of a two-part job. The south project started in 2024 and is expanding K-10 from U.S. 40/Sixth Street to U.S. 59/Iowa Street, while rebuilding interchanges at Clinton Parkway, Wakarusa Drive/27th Street and Iowa Street.
Put together, the West Leg expansion turns about 9 miles of K-10 in Lawrence from a two-lane road into a four-lane divided highway. KDOT says both projects are expected to be finished by the end of 2028, conditions permitting.
The bigger picture
KDOT's South Lawrence Trafficway project page lists the construction cost at $171 million for the south project and $105 million for the north project, so the full corridor is a roughly $276 million investment. The project aims to improve safety and mobility on the SLT corridor and the surrounding highway system, and to take some strain off Lawrence's city streets.
The south project, already underway, comes with a lot of changes local drivers will notice. At Iowa Street, the intersections on the south side of the interchange are being consolidated with folded diamond ramps, along with more ramp storage and a new pedestrian and bike bridge over Iowa. At Clinton Parkway, the design adds two roundabouts at the eastbound and westbound ramps.
The biggest change may be at Wakarusa Drive and 27th Street. The existing signalized intersection is being replaced with a grade-separated interchange, and K-10 will go over Wakarusa and 27th on new bridges. When it's done, traffic on the trafficway will no longer stop at signals, and drivers will get on and off the local streets by ramp. The Bob Billings Parkway and Sixth Street interchanges will be maintained.
KDOT's award puts a Topeka firm, Bettis Asphalt & Construction, in charge of finishing the corridor. The agency's project page lists the north job as KA 3634-02 and the south job as KA 3634-01, handy numbers for anyone tracking bid documents.
The timing also lines up with growth on Lawrence's west side. Large housing proposals near K-10 remain in play, including Beacon Landing on annexed land west of the highway, and a four-lane K-10 with a modern I-70 interchange would make that edge of town easier to reach. Whether or not those developments move forward, the road work is funded and on the schedule.
KDOT says more information about the project, including maps and the schedule, is available on its SLT page.
Why it matters for Contractors
A $104.7 million highway contract with a widened highway and a rebuilt interstate interchange is likely to mean subcontract work for the Lawrence and Topeka area over the next two years, from earthwork and drainage to paving, bridges, signs, striping, erosion control and traffic control. Bettis is the prime, so subs and suppliers who want in should be talking to them now, before the heavy work starts in early 2027. Material suppliers for aggregate, concrete and asphalt should see steady demand too. For residential contractors, the payoff comes later: a faster, safer K-10 makes northwest and west Lawrence easier to get to, which could make the corridor more attractive for new home building. Keep an eye on traffic impacts as well, because lane shifts and ramp closures can add time to every job site trip on that side of town through 2028.