The city is asking community members to share their thoughts on how to choose the location for a downtown Lawrence Transit station, and where it should ultimately go.
The Downtown Transit Station Steering Committee has been meeting for the past several months. The first part of their process was to determine the boundaries of the area to be considered for station site selection. The Lawrence City Commission in June approved the committee’s recommended boundaries of Sixth Street to the north, Tennessee Street to the west, approximately South Park to the south and Rhode Island Street to the east. (See a map below.)
Next, the committee will look to determine criteria to select specific sites that would be ideal for the station: “The survey for Step 2 presents 14 site selection criteria such as walkability from the location, parking spaces gained or lost, impact to city parks, and more,” according to a news release about the project.
That survey closes at noon Friday, July 12, and it’s available at this link.
Another survey features a map so respondents can drop pins on locations they’d like to suggest for the station within the approved boundaries. That survey will be open through noon Thursday, Aug. 15 at this link.
The main elements the city plans to include for the downtown station are driver restrooms, individual bus bays, sufficient seating, wind protection and weather protection canopies, according to the release.
The Central Station opened in January at 2315 Bob Billings Parkway. Greyhound buses and the K-10 Connector have consolidated their Lawrence stops at that location, but several Lawrence Transit routes still serve downtown.
“The goal of a new Downtown Station is to improve comfort and convenience for bus riders, in order to encourage more transit ridership today and in the future,” according to the release.
The city has budgeted $2 million for the downtown station. The goal is for construction on the chosen site to begin in 2025.
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