Construction of the new Safe Routes to School sidewalk project is expected to get under way Monday.

Wynndee Lee, the city’s director of planning and codes, told city commissioners at their study session Monday that general contractor Bryant and Bryant Construction, Halstead, Kan., will begin with the Ash Street route, on the west side from Ninth to 11th streets.

Construction of the new Safe Routes to School sidewalk project is expected to get under way Monday.

Wynndee Lee, the city’s director of planning and codes, told city commissioners at their study session Monday that general contractor Bryant and Bryant Construction, Halstead, Kan., will begin with the Ash Street route, on the west side from Ninth to 11th streets.

The remaining sidewalk projects to be constructed, and their tentative start dates, are:

• Week of Oct. 28 — Osage Drive, on the west side from 15th Street to 16th Street.

• Week of Nov. 4 — 13th Street, on the north side from College Street to Kanza Park.

• Starting late the week of Nov. 11 — North Cherry Street, on the east side from Wilson Street to Garfield Street.

Drivers should be alert to nearby work zones and take precautions along such routes, Lee said.  

“It will not be without event, but they plan to keep the roads open,” Lee said. “They plan to only dig up what they are about to pour,” she said.

Gene Ramsey, city commissioner, said he was glad to hear the construction crew planned to adopt that strategy.

Bryant and Bryant submitted the low bid of about $200,000 for the contract, which was awarded by the Kansas Department of Transportation, Lee said.

A KDOT grant will cover about 80 percent of the project’s cost, city officials previously said.

Each phase should take about seven to eight days to complete, Lee told commissioners, with the contractor anticipating completion by Thanksgiving.