The day some Franklin County commuters have been awaiting for several years finally is arriving.

The new 11.1-mile stretch of U.S. 59 — from the Franklin/Douglas county line to south of Lawrence — will open sometime Wednesday as crews remove traffic control objects, according to a Kansas Department of Transportation news release.

The new “U.S. 59 freeway” in Douglas County will be opened to unrestricted traffic sometime by late afternoon or early evening Wednesday, weather permitting, the release said.

Motorists still will experience varying lane closures on the new U.S. 59 alignment as finishing touches and clean-up work is completed, the release said.

Once the new highway alignment is open to traffic this Wednesday, KDOT officials said, crews will then begin work on rehabilitating the existing U.S. 59 — soon to be dubbed Old U.S. 59. This work includes replacing and rehabilitating structures and pavement as sections of the existing U.S. 59 will remain local access/frontage roads, the release said. The rehab work on the existing U.S. 59 is scheduled for completion in late summer 2013.

The two-county U.S. 59 freeway construction project cost about $145 million, the release said.

The Franklin County portion of the new highway opened in 2010.