Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday will weigh the pros, cons and costs of two proposed sites for a downtown bus station.
Lawrence Transit’s Central Station at Bob Billings Parkway and Crestline Drive opened in January, but there are five bus routes that serve downtown. The station aims to improve conditions for bus riders and drivers.
The main elements the city plans to include in the downtown station are driver restrooms, individual bus bays, next departure signs, sufficient seating, wind protection and weather protection canopies.
The commission narrowed options down to Lot 9, at the northwest corner of 10th and Vermont streets, and Lot 14, on the northeast corner of Eighth and Vermont streets near the Lawrence Public Library and Senior Resource Center, which is already the de facto downtown bus hub.
Project consultants with the Kansas Department of Transportation have helped to create more detailed concept plans and updated cost estimates, according to the meeting agenda.
Lot 9 comes with a price tag of $1.89 million; the cost estimate for Lot 14 is $1.8 million, according to the agenda item. Here’s a look at the layout for both sites:
20241119-downtown-transit-site-plansThe funding for the project is mostly coming from a federal grant. The city has been awarded an 80/20 grant for the project — $1.6 million in federal funding matched with $400,000 in local funds.
Commissioners will hold a work session during Tuesday’s meeting and provide guidance, but they will not take a final vote on the site until December, tentatively Dec. 17.
Design work for the chosen site will begin in the first quarter of 2025, with construction to follow from quarter 3 of 2025 through quarter 2 or 3 of 2026, according to the meeting agenda.
“As part of the 2026 Transit Department operational budget, Downtown Station is planned to be staffed with security personnel from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday,” according to a city news release.
The commission will begin its regular meeting at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 19 at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St.
Meetings are open to the public, broadcast on Midco channel 25 and livestreamed on the city’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/@lawrenceksvideo. See the complete meeting agenda at this link.
The commission accepts written public comment until noon the day of the meeting emailed to ccagendas@lawrenceks.org. The commission hears public comment in person during meetings as well as via Zoom. Register for Tuesday’s Zoom meeting at this link.
As the transit station site discussion is ongoing, plans are also in the works for redevelopment of three other downtown parking lots: 711 New Hampshire St., 826 Vermont St. and 1020 Vermont St.
Here are all the sites on a map; click on a point for more info:
Once completed, the project proposed for 826 New Hampshire St. would include a multistory parking garage that would double the number of parking spaces currently available on the lot, according to plans.
The developers with plans for affordable housing at 711 New Hampshire St. did not receive the tax credits they’d hoped would help fund the project, and “we are revisiting our financing options to find a path forward on this development,” Jon Atlas, managing director of the development group, said last month.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
