Post updated at 6:46 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 6:
Lawrence city commissioners have signed off on 14 criteria that a committee will use to select the location of the downtown Lawrence Transit station.
Adam Weigel, parking and transit manager for the City of Lawrence, told commissioners during their meeting Tuesday that one criteria was that the site should not be developed in conjunction with any proposals the city may consider to redevelop three downtown parking lots.
That’s because of a federal grant the city plans to use to develop the downtown station site, Weigel said. State partners who helped to secure the grant were “not interested in us looking at a public-private type development,” Weigel told commissioners.
The city also cannot use federal funds to build in FEMA flood hazard zones, Weigel said.
Here are the 14 criteria; tap or click on the image to zoom in:
Commissioners approved the criteria on a 4-0 vote. Commissioner Brad Finkeldei was absent.
The next step is for the committee to select the actual location for the station.
An online survey the city is conducting 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 in the downtown station are driver restrooms, individual bus bays, sufficient seating, wind protection and weather protection canopies.
Weigel said the goal is to have a site ready to go by August 2026. August is when Lawrence Transit’s annual changes to routes and schedules generally go into effect.
Read more background on the site selection process in the articles at this link.
In other business, commissioners unanimously approved all recommended appointments to the city’s advisory boards.
See more information about the boards and the list of nominees at this link.
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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.
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