From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for March 19, 1973:

• A front-page photo today featured various pieces of material for new bridges that would become part of the new four-lane U.S. 59 south of Lawrence. The parts were awaiting a necessary stretch of dry weather. Work on the project had been stalled most of the winter due to unusually wet conditions that had turned the construction area into a sea of mud. Fortunately, a five-day streak of dry weather had put many area projects on the verge of continuing their progress, delayed since December. “Things are looking up,” said Perry Lake project manager Lynn Myers, “but at the moment it’s kind of discouraging.” Myer was referring to continued delays on road and marina improvements at Perry; area construction officials were also concerned about the progress of the U.S. 59 project, another project on U.S. 40, and the construction of Clinton Dam.
• Included on the agenda of the upcoming Lawrence City Commission meeting were a hearing on the advisability of constructing sidewalks on both sides of Massachusetts Street from North Park Street to 11th Street; a site plan for a retail and office building to be located next to the existing Sears store west of Iowa and north of Yale Road; and a claim from a local resident for alleged damages that had occurred in December because of the city’s failure to require the removal of snow and ice from a sidewalk in front of 933 Massachusetts Street.