The chairman of the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission said today that he wants to make one more effort to reach a compromise with Haskell Indian Nations University to avoid building the South Lawrence Trafficway through a wetland area that the university considers sacred.

Grant Eichhorn, chairman of the planning commission, said he would be willing to scrap plans for a proposed route that would take the final leg of the trafficway through the Baker Wetlands, if Haskell Indian Nations University is willing to provide the county right-of-way to expand the existing portion of 31st Street, which also runs through the wetland area.

Eichhorn said if that were to happen, he then would begin advocating for the trafficway to be built south of the Wakarusa River.

But any compromise will have to happen fast.

The Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission is in the process of creating a new comprehensive transportation plan for the county. It must be finished by the end of the year to meet federal guidelines, Eichhorn said. He said a compromise with Haskell would need to be reached before the plan is completed.

The Planning Commission ultimately could play an important role in the future route of the SLT. That’s because in order for the project to be eligible to receive any federal funding, a specific route must be included on the Transportation 2030 plan that the planning commission now is developing. In other words, if the planning commission doesn’t include the wetlands route in the Transportation 2030 plan, it wouldn’t be eligible for federal funding.

By federal law, the planning commission – not the county commission or city commission – has final authority in creating the Transportation 2030 plan.