Work is nearly complete on a project that has transformed the stretch of S.E. 45th Street just south of Lake Shawnee from a two-lane road with open ditches on either side to a three-lane road with curbs and gutters, storm sewers and sidewalks on both sides.

That stretch of street will be reopened to the public between 5 and 6 p.m. Friday, Shawnee County public works director Curt Niehaus told county commissioners at their morning meeting Thursday.

"I think a lot of people in eastern and southeastern Shawnee County will be extremely happy," he said.

The project came in at less than its $5.84 million budget, Niehaus said.

The area involved sees about 7,200 vehicles a day, according to a traffic count map posted online last March by the Kansas Department of Transportation.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the project will be held at 2:30 p.m. Dec. 9 at its location, said Amanda Monhollon, the county's public information officer.

Commissioners voted in October 2019 to approve the project carried out this year to make improvements to the 2,900-foot stretch of S.E. 45th between S.E. East Edge Road and a location just west of S.E. Berryton/West Edge Road.

The project included:

• Building a single-lane roundabout at the point where S.E. 45th intersects with S.E. West Edge Road on the north and S.E. Berryton Road on the south.

• Removing and replacing a structurally deficient arch bridge over Deer Creek just west of S.E. East Edge Road while replacing it with a more modern girder bridge.

• Relocating the Lake Shawnee Trail, which runs along the southern edge of the Lake Shawnee Golf Course, to bring it closer to S.E. 45th, in a move aimed at solving issues regarding the steep grade of that trail.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka street south of Lake Shawnee to reopen after widening project