Last week’s story about Lawrence city officials questioning whether the city’s sewer system has the capacity to accommodate proposed growth in certain areas of town focuses added attention on just how well city officials and their consultants have done in projecting future growth and the accompanying needs.

The sewer situation apparently has the potential of causing a moratorium on residential and commercial development on thousands of acres west of Kasold Drive and north of Peterson Road. Apparently there is concern the system may not be large enough, or engineered correctly, to prevent serious sewer backup problems in some areas.

At the present time, everything is on hold, but raw sewage reportedly was dumped into the Kansas River recently when a sewage pump station near Sixth and Kentucky streets overflowed after a sizable rain.

This means a major slowdown in residential and commercial building permits, which, in turn, touches many other local businesses and employment opportunities. Aside from the immediate impact on the city, the question residents should be asking is whether this is just one more example of faulty or careless planning by various city offices.

Lawrence is a growing city. In fact, since the end of World War II, the mid to late 1940s, the city has enjoyed some of the fastest and healthiest growth in the state. Lawrence is looked upon as a well-located, attractive place to live.

The past growth of Lawrence and its potential future growth should be no secret to anyone interested in Lawrence as a place to live or locate their business.

Sadly, however, for years, city officials haven’t seemed to think big enough in looking to the future. Twenty-third Street offers a perfect example. City officials allowed businesses to be built far too close to the right-of-way on 23rd Street between Louisiana and Iowa streets. Consequently, the heavily used street cannot be expanded to accommodate the growing traffic load.

For example, years ago, a supermarket was allowed to be built flush to the sidewalk at 23rd and Louisiana streets, thereby limiting any widening opportunity.

Traffic certainly will increase on Clinton Parkway, and yet, a roundabout installed at the far west end of this road is sure to become a bottleneck and cause problems for people bringing boats to Clinton Lake as well as the growing number of people wanting to use Sesquicentennial Park.

The city has hired numerous consultants either to obtain expert advice or perhaps to free city officials of any blame if predictions turn out to be incorrect. Black and Veatch of Kansas City is one of the nation’s finest engineering firms, and Lawrence has used these officials on many occasions to predict and oversee various major engineering projects.

They have been deeply involved in the water plant and sewer matters, and they have had a long history with Lawrence projects. They certainly should have been aware of the city’s past growth and future needs, but maybe they didn’t envision future sewer needs. Maybe there are other reasons for the current situation, but something is wrong.

City Manager Mike Wildgen is quoted as saying keeping up with growth is a difficult task, but it sure beats being a city manager trying to deal with problems associated with a city that is shrinking. He is very defensive of city officials charged with thinking about the future and planning for growth.

Right or wrong, the public perception is the city is behind the curve, too often trying to correct some situation rather than being ahead of the problem. This applies to streets as well as the water and sewer systems. The Black and Veatch master plan was supposed to have the city set until 2010, and here it is, 2005, and there are problems. What went wrong?

Look at the highly visible Horizon 2020 plan that was supposed to lay out a master plan for the city’s needs and issues until the year 2020. Before the report was even completed and before participating parties had signed off on the master plan, the city already had exceeded population projections in the document.

Time and time again, city officials as well as the general citizenry have not thought big enough. Where is the city to grow? How can the downtown area grow without intruding into East Lawrence or Old West Lawrence, jumping the Kaw River into North Lawrence or taking away South Park or Buford M. Watson Park?

How long will it be before the South Lawrence Trafficway is completed on the proper 32nd Street alignment? It is almost criminal that this long-overdue project has been delayed as costs skyrocket for completion of the eastern leg of the road.

Kansas University administrators, as well as state officials, should be concerned about the apparent lack of vision at the local level and how this could have a negative impact on the university’s future growth and attractiveness to potential faculty and students.

Is there reason to wonder whether some slow or inadequate attention to major needs of a growing city is attributable to the “no-growth” factions in Lawrence?

One area in which the city did show foresight was in supporting the construction of Clinton Lake, but even in this project, major impetus came from several powerful individuals in Kansas City who owned land east of Lawrence and were tired of the Wakarusa River flooding their fields. Where would Lawrence be today without Clinton Lake and the supplemental water supply it provides? What is being done today to minimize silt building up in the reservoir? Is there any chance Lawrence could buy additional water rights?

If 23rd Street is going to continue to be a clogged and dangerous street, what can the city do to ease the load east of 23rd and Massachusetts streets for travelers heading east on Kansas Highway 10? What can be done to improve safety at the intersection of K-10 and the access road to East Hills Business Park?

What is the future of East 15th Street? How soon can a second sewer treatment plant be built south of the Wakarusa River? There are many other questions, and hopefully someone in City Hall can get the appropriate officeholders to make a major effort to concentrate on the future needs of the city.

Unless the “no-growthers” are so powerful and successful in their efforts, Lawrence will continue to grow. This growth can help make Lawrence an even finer city in which to work, live and play, but it will take vision and courage from those in City Hall for the city to reach its potential.