Update Aug. 12, 2021: Blasting schedule for next week, Aug. 16-20, has been revised to 11 a.m.-1 p.m. every day. Drivers should expect up to a 15-minute delay.

Update Aug. 11, 2021: Blasting schedule revised; blasting will occur this afternoon and Thursday, Aug. 12, and Friday, Aug. 13.

A series of controlled blasts are scheduled to be conducted in Osage County as part of the realignment of state Highway 31, the Kansas Department of Transportation has announced.

Beginning Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021, through Friday, Aug. 27, there will be one blast every other day scheduled to occur between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., weather permitting. Blasting work will not be done on weekends.

Blasts will take place along the route approximately four miles east of Osage City, at locations between Lewelling Road and east of Morrill Road.

Access to the 1.5-mile stretch of K-31 will be closed for up to 15 minutes at a time while blasts take place. Flaggers will stop traffic around the blasting area three minutes prior to a blast. Traffic will be released as soon as the all clear signal is given. Audible sirens will also be sounded before and after the blast: three short sirens one minute prior to the blast and one long siren after the area is all clear.

As always, KDOT urges motorists to be alert and obey the warning signs when approaching and driving through a highway work zone. For information about road construction projects across Kansas, see www.kandrive.org or call 511.

Information thanks to KDOT Northeast District Office.