Stafford Road to close

Stafford Road travelers can expect a detour beginning this week.

The Kansas Department of Transportation will close the 2500 to 2600 block of Stafford Road west of U.S. 59 in Franklin County Thursday morning, weather permitting.

A signed detour on Shawnee and Kentucky roads south of the closure will direct motorists west and then north to Stafford Road, which is about six miles north of Ottawa.

Stafford Road is being closed for the realignment of the existing U.S. 59 and construction of an interchange. Stafford is expected to remain closed until December 2008.

The temporary closure is part of the KDOT project to expand U.S. 59 to a four-lane freeway from I-35 northeast of Ottawa to the Franklin-Douglas county line.

Ames Construction, Inc., of Burnsville, Minn., is the primary contractor for the grading and bridge work on the Franklin County section.