New online map explains construction projects across city

The guessing game is over for motorists who drive across town and wonder what the myriad construction crews are up to.

City Hall officials have developed a new online map designed to answer the question: “What the heck are they building now?”

“We have any number of different projects going on in the community at any given time,” said interim City Manager David Corliss. “We think it is helpful for everybody to have an easy way to see what’s going on.”

The new city map lists a variety of projects, including street work, water and sewer projects, and school construction. Projects undertaken by the private sector also are included.

The city uses building permit data and applications for development permits to list new neighborhoods and apartment complexes that are being built, in addition to new retail, office and industrial projects.

The first map, made public earlier this week, lists about 140 projects that are under way or approved by city planners to begin soon.

The map should go a long way toward quenching residents’ curiosity, but that’s not its main purpose, Corliss said. City staff members will use the map to better coordinate projects.

For example, Corliss dislikes it when city street crews put a fresh layer of asphalt on a street only to have it cut up a few months later by the utility department to install a water or sewer line.

“The information has always been available, but you would have to go to a lot of different departments to find it all,” said Chuck Soules, the city’s director of public works.

Corliss said the map, which is displayed on the city’s Web site at www.lawrenceks.org, would be updated about once a month. The city is in the process of putting the map in an easy-to-find spot on its Web site.