People concerned about the proposed completion of the South Lawrence Trafficway will be able to meet face-to-face next month with the man whose decision could settle the issue.

Col. Donald Curtis Jr., district engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Kansas City, Mo., will preside at a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 12 in Building 21 at the Douglas County 4-H Fairgrounds, 2110 Harper St.

The hearing will give people a chance to comment about the corps’ proposed draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the trafficway, which ultimately would connect the Kansas Turnpike northwest of Lawrence with Kansas Highway 10 southeast of town.

The document recommends finishing the trafficway along one of two routes:

A 32nd Street alignment, through the Baker Wetlands, for an estimated $105 million.

A 42nd Street alignment, running south of the Wakarusa River, for an estimated $128.5 million.

The corps intends to complete its regulatory review of the project required because the road would fill federally protected wetlands by year’s end, and that means either choosing a route for the road or recommending that it not be completed at all.

“This is an opportunity for the community to stand in front of the key decision-maker and voice whatever they think is important for the colonel to walk away with,” said Scott Russell, director of public involvement programs for HNTB Corp., the consultant that compiled the $2 million document and is helping organize the hearing. “Is one (alignment) better than the other? What’s important from the community’s perspective?”

The comments will be included in the corps’ deliberations for compiling the trafficway’s final environmental impact statement, a document that will be subject to another 30-day public comment period but not another hearing.

That’s why people should speak up now, Russell said.

“It’s kind of like voting,” he said. “If you don’t show up at the polls, your voice is limited.”

Organizers plan to have 300 seats available in a room big enough for 500 people.

Those attending the meeting will be asked to fill out cards indicating whether they intend to speak at the microphone. At least one court reporter will be on site to transcribe comments, and project engineers and planners will be available to answer questions before the formal hearing begins, likely at 7 p.m.

The Wetlands Preservation Organization is working to have dozens of representatives at the meeting to voice their opposition to the 32nd Street alignment, spokeswoman Anna Wilson said.

The corps’ document focuses too much on the 32nd Street plan, she said, and not nearly enough on the agency’s other preferred alignment along 42nd Street.

“You can’t make an actual, educated decision,” she said. “An EIS is not supposed to be biased in any way. It’s supposed to be based on the facts, and all the facts just aren’t there.”

Marsha Goff, a Lawrence writer, said she was organizing a meeting of community leaders to support the 32nd Street plan.

The route, she said, would allow for the expansion of the wetlands, the return of a portion of 31st Street to Haskell Indian Nations University and the construction of a road that has lingered in limbo for more than a decade.

“It looks like a win-win situation for everyone,” Goff said.

In addition to the public hearing, the corps will accept written comments about its draft document through Sept. 30.