To the editor:

It should be noted that a 32nd Street alignment for the South Lawrence Trafficway (SLT) would result in EIGHT lanes of traffic running right through the deepest part of the wetlands where the boardwalk is currently located. As currently proposed by KDOT, there would be four lanes for the SLT and an immediately adjacent four lanes for a new 31st Street (the old 31st Street would be removed). Significantly, water and wildlife would no longer be able to migrate freely between the Haskell and Baker Wetlands, thereby causing irreparable harm to the ecosystem.

KU and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) each own 20-acre tracts of the Baker Wetlands that lie in the footprint of the proposed 32nd Street route. Generally, one state agency cannot condemn land owned by another state agency. Thus, if KDOT proceeds to acquire right-of-way for the 32nd Street route, both KU and KDWP will have to agree to the transfers. Both Chancellor Hemenway and Secretary Hayden are fully aware it would be in the public interest to preserve the public lands they hold in trust for the people of Kansas. Will they act in the public interest?

Clark H. Coan,

Lawrence