Lawrence city commissioners want to wait until an alignment for the completion of the South Lawrence Trafficway is chosen before deciding where they want to see intersections go.

Douglas County Commissioner Bob Johnson had asked the city to weigh in on the location of possible city intersections with a proposed 32nd Street alignment for completing the eastern leg of the trafficway.

“I personally believe that it is likely that KDOT may ultimately choose this alignment,” Johnson said in an April 25 letter to city commissioners.

City commissioners said Tuesday they would rather tell the Kansas Department of Transportation that they’re interested in having input on the intersections regardless of the alignment.

“I think it’s very interesting and disturbing we’re being asked such a narrow question,” Commissioner David Dunfield said. “Why aren’t we being asked about intersections on the other alignments? We’re being asked indirectly to bless this alignment.”

The commission already had refused to bless any particular alignment. Last fall, three of the five commissioners said they supported a south-of-the-Wakarusa River alignment. They refrained from making that an official position, however.

The western two-thirds of the trafficway, which is supposed to link Kansas Highway 10 east of the city with Interstate 70 northwest of the city, is completed and open. However, disputes about the route have kept work on the eastern five miles of the road from starting.

Douglas County Commissioner Jere McElhaney told city commissioners Tuesday that they weren’t being asked to affirm a 32nd Street route. City input on alignments is needed, he said, to ensure local needs  such as fire service to Wakarusa Township south of Lawrence  are taken into consideration by KDOT.

“This is not premature whatsoever,” McElhaney said. “This is very important.”

“If we don’t do that,” City Commissioner Marty Kennedy said, “KDOT has no obligation to us not to build a highway without any connections to the city.”

Commissioners decided to have Dunfield draft a letter stating the issues (effects on south Lawrence neighborhoods, Haskell Indian Nations University and more) that should be considered when deciding the intersection sites.

The trafficway currently connects U.S. Interstate 70 northwest of Lawrence with Interstate 59 south of town. Officials want to complete the SLT with a road from the U.S. Highway 59 junction to Kansas Highway 10 east of Lawrence. Officials say that the project would cost from $90 million to $100 million.