Unique land

To the editor:

David Woosley, the city’s traffic engineer, makes an excellent point about Kansas University and the river contributing significantly to Lawrence’s uniqueness (Journal-World, Feb. 6). “Congestion might be a little bit higher here than in other cities our size because we have KU in the middle of town, and we have the river,” Woosley said. “That means we don’t have many streets that go all the way across town. That is a bit unique.”

He is referring to traffic flow disruptions, but in the larger context, Woosley is pointing to a pair of natural features in our landscape that make our city special. An elbow in the Kansas River divides North Lawrence from the rest of the city. The escarpment upon which KU sits is a major impediment to rapid ground transportation. No one with any appreciation of this place would wish the river straightened or Mount Oread flattened.

Wakarusa Bottoms is the third major aspect of our physiographic uniqueness. Haskell-Baker Wetlands, the heart of what remains of this part of our physical geography, is also the bane of people who are in a hurry to get somewhere. But to many in Lawrence, and to thousands of American Indians who have attended Haskell Indian Nations University, the notion of paving this sacred, historically irreplaceable wetland is as obscenely shortsighted as channelizing the Kaw or bulldozing Mount Oread.

Michael Caron,

Lawrence