Northeastern Kansans generally support completion of the South Lawrence Trafficway but will be less likely to use it the farther south it is, according to a new state-sponsored survey.

But the survey, commissioned by the Kansas Department of Transportation, also shows the project is creating greater-than-average concern about environmental issues.

The survey showed 78 percent of the 1,200 people polled, which included residents of Lawrence, Douglas County, eastern Shawnee County and western Johnson County, were either very or somewhat supportive of completing the trafficway.

“I think the results are quite significant,” said Mike Rees, chief counsel for KDOT. “I think this survey allowed us to hear from a lot of people who didn’t show up at the public hearings.

“I think it is definitely a different section of the community than what we’ve heard from in the past. It might be the so-called quiet majority.”

The survey did not delve directly into the controversy whether the road should be completed along a route cutting through the Baker Wetlands or built south of the Wakarusa River to avoid the wetlands.

Instead, it asked residents how likely they would be to use the trafficway depending on how far south of 23rd Street it was.

Environmental concerns

The results showed 86 percent of respondents would be willing to use the road if it were one mile south of 23rd Street. That willingness dropped to 34 percent when the distance from 23rd Street was increased to three miles.

A 32nd Street route, which would run through the Baker Wetlands, is slightly more than a mile south of 23rd Street. A 42nd Street route, south of the Wakarusa River, is slightly less than three miles south of 23rd Street.

“That seems to correspond with all the studies we have done,” Rees said. “Everything we have ever done shows that the farther south you go the less it will be used.”

Heightened concern for the environment of the Baker Wetlands was evident in survey results, Rees said.

Respondents ranked preservation of the wetlands environment as the third-most important factor that should be considered in choosing a location for the uncompleted portion of the road.

Twenty-six percent of respondents said protecting the environment was one of their top two issues concerning the road. Rees said the survey’s authors, ETC Institute of Olathe, admitted that was an unusually high percentage for a road project.

Rees said a more typical percentage of people listing the environment as a top concern was about 10 percent.

“People are obviously very concerned about that area,” Rees said of the environment overall and the wetlands in particular. “But I personally feel good about what the department has done with Baker University to address a lot of those concerns.”

Mediation plan

KDOT has reached a tentative $8.5 million deal with the university to add between 300 and 700 acres of man-made wetlands to the area in exchange for allowing the trafficway to be completed on a 32nd Street route, a plan that would take from 65 to 100 acres of existing wetlands.

Bruce Plenk, an attorney representing the Wetlands Preservation Organization, said he didn’t think the survey results indicated people were satisfied the road wouldn’t harm the environment.

“I think anybody who has seen a bad accident on K-10 would have to say they’re concerned about driver safety and traffic issues,” Plenk said. “But the point is that we should have a plan that addresses traffic and protects the environment. We still don’t have that plan.”

Other survey findings:

 51 percent of those surveyed thought travel on 23rd Street had become more dangerous in the past five years. Forty percent noticed no change.

 84 percent surveyed were either “very” or “somewhat” concerned about traffic on 23rd Street; 14 percent were not concerned.

 36 percent rated traffic flow along 23rd Street poor; 37 percent rated it fair; 22 percent rated it good.

Rees said the survey results would be included in an environmental impact statement for the project but probably would not be a determining factor in choosing a route.

“It’s not the type of thing that makes us change our direction, but it gives us good information about what people’s issues and concerns are,” Rees said.