City Commission to consider keeping Kasold open amid rebuilding project / LJWorld.com

Archive for Tuesday, November 3, 2009

November 3, 2009

Included in preliminary plans for rebuilding Kasold Drive, from Clinton Parkway to 31st Street:

• Addition of a center left-turn lane along 31st, for traffic turning south onto East 1200 Road at “Kasold on the curve.” A right-turn lane would be added on Kasold, for traffic turning right onto the county road.

• Center left-turn lanes would be added along Kasold, for traffic turning into residential areas. Medians also would be added in some areas.

• The concrete median along Kasold immediately south of Clinton Parkway would be removed and replaced with paint to allow for a future reconfiguration that would provide a second left-turn lane without reconstruction.

• Recreation paths and sidewalks would be extended and connected as part of the project.

Kasold Drive would be rebuilt with new right-turn lanes, a center turn lane and other features to ease driving between Clinton Parkway and 31st Street, according to plans envisioned at City Hall.

But the work could lead to extended periods of rough travel during the next couple of years, as construction would extend for months on the estimated $6 million project.

Tuesday night, Lawrence city commissioners will consider backing several project-related recommendations from engineers:

• Require that one lane of traffic in each direction be open along Kasold during construction. Left turns also would be restricted in the work zone, to keep traffic moving.

• Seek $277,715 from Douglas County to cover some costs related to additional turn lanes at the intersection of 31st and the southern stretch of Kasold, which is a county road formally known as East 1200 Road.

• Continue efforts to work with the Kansas Department of Transportation to speed up the project’s planned schedule for construction so that work could begin this summer. Normally, KDOT wouldn’t be ready to bid the project until late 2010, or even early 2011.

“We’re proposing that it be a lot sooner,” said Chuck Soules, the city’s director of public works.

For months, Soules and others have been working with hired engineers to come up with a design and potential timeline for the project. Among the biggest questions: Should the road be open or closed to through traffic during construction?

After talking with area contractors, Soules said, officials could not be sure they would save either time or money by closing the road.

By keeping one lane of traffic going in each direction, he said, the 13,000 or so vehicles that use that stretch of Kasold each day could to continue to do so. And that includes residents of the 400 or so homes along the eastern side of Kasold, whose homes are accessible only by using the main road.

Left turns would be prohibited, he said, which likely would require that drivers plan ahead to be able to make right turns where necessary.

“With any road construction project, there’s going to be a little bit of inconvenience,” Soules said. “But hopefully, in the end, the ends justify the means.”

Soules said the project likely would be expected to be finished in the spring of 2011.

Discussion

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3 November 2009
at 10:10 a.m.

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ralphralph (Anonymous) says…

Topeka-style planning … build it up, close the roads.
3 November 2009
at 11:06 a.m.

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Eride (Anonymous) says…

How about inserting a center turn line on Iowa between 6th and 15th streets? Or at least restricting turning left during peak times. It is asinine that this is allowed on a major roadway. It instantly clogs traffic and it is *very* dangerous.
3 November 2009
at 12:05 p.m.

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KATHYLOBB1956 (Anonymous) says…

there hasbeen alot done to that road alreday