TOPEKA (KSNT) – Shawnee County is planning to improve a stretch of South Topeka Boulevard later this summer. The project will start just north of Airport Drive and stretch south past Gary Ormsby Drive.

The Shawnee County Commission approved a budget of just over $270,000 at its meeting Monday morning. Public Works Director Curt Niehaus said the project will be planned around Country Stampede.

“We’ll either have an earlier set date before Country Stampede and the work will be completed before Country Stampede weekend,” Niehaus said. “Or we’ll start the work after Country Stampede weekend but either way we’ll avoid the traffic.”

Niehaus said crews will scrape and repave both southbound lanes. The project is expected to last 30 days.