During the next year, the Lawrence City Commission will create a much louder drumbeat to build the South Lawrence Trafficway south of the Wakarusa River.

City commissioners wrapped up a two-day goal setting session on Saturday by resolving to become more active in the debate over where the controversial bypass project should be constructed.

“I think we have the foundation for a consensus that we’ve never had before,” Mayor Boog Highberger said about the roadway issue, which has been in limbo for two decades. “I think the people who want the road most strongly don’t care where it goes, and I think people who have traditionally opposed the road now recognize that we need a new east-west route in south Lawrence.”

The sentiment is far from unanimous. City Commissioners Sue Hack and Mike Amyx said they both felt more comfortable with the approved 32nd Street route, which would run the road through the Baker Wetlands and near the Haskell Indian Nations University campus.

“I appreciate their concerns, but I don’t agree with them,” Hack said of the three-member majority who supported the goal. “An enormous amount of study has went into the 32nd Street alignment, and I think it was chosen for good reason.”

City commissioners don’t have any ability to overturn the route decision. The route was chosen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, after an environmental study was conducted on how the road would affect the wetlands. The route also has strong support from the Kansas Department of Transportation, which is funding the project, and from two of the three Douglas County commissioners.

But Highberger said the City Commission could become a champion for the south of the river option. He said he would want to have meetings with the Corps of Engineers, KDOT and members of the community who are not yet sold on the south of the river option.

The road, which is completed west of Iowa Street, has been stalled for years following a lawsuit by environmentalists and some members of the American Indian community who said the trafficway would destroy environmental and historic aspects of the wetlands. The project also suffered funding problems as the state’s budget resources declined.

But in November, the road received a $1.5 million infusion of federal funding after Sen. Pat Roberts included the money in a federal transportation bill in hopes of spurring activity in the project. State officials have estimated that about $110 million will be needed to complete the bypass, which would connect the Kansas Turnpike west of Lawrence with Kansas Highway 10 east of Lawrence.

City Commissioner David Schauner said that the city efforts also needed to include a discussion of possibly funding part of the road if it is built south of the river.

But Hack and Amyx both expressed concern that moving the road south of the river would create significant additional costs to the city. The state has agreed to rebuild portions of the existing 31st Street if the trafficway is built along a 32nd Street alignment. KDOT also has committed $8.5 million to improve and expand the Baker Wetlands area.

The South Lawrence Trafficway issue was one of three that commissioners identified as their top priority goals during the retreat at the Lawrence Public Library. The other two were creation of performance management standards that will allow the operations of each city department to be more accurately evaluated, and improved budgeting and planning for maintenance of existing roads.