City shifts traffic plans

Roundabout removed from design for 19th, Louisiana intersection

When it comes to a roundabout at 19th and Louisiana streets, Chuck Soules is in no mood to experiment.

Soules, the city’s director of public works, said Monday he would recommend city commissioners scrap plans to build a roundabout at the intersection near Lawrence High School. Soules said he was concerned that for the roundabout to work it would need to be two lanes wide – a first in the city – which could create additional driver confusion.

“I think as a community we’ll continue to get more used to roundabouts, but I don’t think we’re ready for a two-lane one right now,” Soules said.

Instead, Soules will recommend to city commissioners at their meeting tonight that improvements be made to turn lanes at the intersection, a traffic signal be reprogrammed and a bus parking area be added in front of LHS along Louisiana Street.

Dropping the idea of a roundabout pleases officials with the Lawrence school district, said Tom Bracciano, the district’s director of operations and facility planning.

“Our big concern that we heard from staff members was the pedestrian access on a roundabout,” Bracciano said. “With a stop light, you have a guarded intersection. You have a light to cross on. Finding a gap in traffic to cross at a roundabout, with that many cars, could be a problem.”

Soules said costs for a roundabout at the intersection also were a major factor. A new report by BG Consultants indicated that a roundabout could cost about $2 million, in part because it would require the city to buy a house on the southeast corner. The city has budgeted a little less than $600,000 for improvements at the intersection.

The improvements Soules is recommending would come in near the city’s budget. Those improvements are:

¢ Lengthening the existing left-hand turn lane for the westbound lanes on 19th Street. Currently the left-hand turn lane is less than a half-block long. Soules is recommending it be extended past Ohio Street to allow more room for cars waiting to make a left-hand turn onto Louisiana Street. The longer lane may make it necessary to limit left-hand turns onto Ohio Street during certain hours of the day.

¢ Adjusting the traffic light to allow motorists to make a left-hand turn onto southbound Louisiana Street only if they have a green arrow. Currently left-hand turns are allowed on a green light, but Soules said there had been nine accidents at the intersection involving left-hand turns between 2002 and 2004.

¢ Creating a center turn lane on 19th Street west of Louisiana Street. The turn lane would stretch to the westernmost LHS entrance. Soules said it should help improve traffic flow by giving motorists a protected lane to turn into the high school and the adjacent neighborhood. As part of the plan, Soules is recommending the easternmost LHS exit become a right-out only to help keep traffic moving.

¢ Adding a bus turnout lane along Louisiana Street that would allow school buses to pull out of the traffic flow while loading and unloading students.

Preliminary cost estimates for the three projects are about $500,000. Soules said he hoped the work could be done without purchasing any private property for right of way, but he said additional study would be needed.

Earlier this year city commissioners directed staff members to look at ways to improve the intersection’s safety. There have been 29 accidents at the intersection between 2002 and 2004, and it has one of the higher crash rates in the city.

The city has about 10 roundabouts, plus about a dozen smaller traffic-calming circles. The city has made the devices a regular part of its traffic-calming strategies since 1999 when it installed a roundabout at Harvard Road and Monterey Way.

Commissioners meet at 6:35 tonight at City Hall, Sixth and Massachusetts streets.