A more than 20-year-old debate reopened Monday night as city engineers sought public input on the prospects of installing a center turn lane on portions of Iowa Street.

“If we’re going to rebuild it, should we not build it so that we can improve the safety?” Public Works Director Chuck Soules asked.

The roadway took a particularly bad hit from harsh conditions this winter. The city is now looking at rebuilding Iowa Street from Yale Road to the Irving Hill overpass.

The project carries a price tag of $5 million, and the city needs to address safety concerns on the road to be eligible for $1 million in federal funds.

In the past three years, the city traffic engineer estimates there were 76 accidents on that portion of Iowa Street now in need of repair. Sixty of those occurred near the area of University Drive and Stratford Road, common entrances to the residential area on the northwest side of the Kansas University campus.

“It’s a huge expense,” Soules said. “It would just be a shame if we really needed that turn lane and we don’t do something to accommodate for it.”

But many residents in the area once again voiced opposition to the idea of adding a center turn lane for fear it would greatly increase through traffic on neighborhood streets leading to the KU campus.

Many would rather see some sort of concrete median placed on Iowa Street to prohibit cars from making left turns into their neighborhood, an option that was voiced back in 1993 until a petition by parents of Hillcrest School students put a stop to that.

Not everyone was against the idea. Some residents said they support the idea of a turn lane to help them get into and out of their neighborhood safely.

“Those of us who live in the area can’t get out,” Faye Watson said. “We really need a left-turn lane for safety. I think it’s vital.”

The issue will likely come before the City Commission in late April or early May.