City nixes transit hub at 21st and Stewart; contracts for train depot approved

Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday rejected a proposal to develop a central transfer hub for the city’s bus system at 21st and Stewart Avenue, just east of Iowa Street, but offered no clear alternative about where, if anywhere, a transit hub should be built.

Transit administrator Robert Nugent had proposed the 21st and Stewart site, saying other sites that had been considered would either be more expensive or were inconsistent with Kansas University’s master development plan.

But many residents of the surrounding neighborhood objected to the plan, which called for installing a new traffic signal at 21st and Iowa and redesigning the intersection at Stewart. It also did not include provision for public restrooms.

“With no bathrooms, where do they relieve themselves?” one resident asked. “It is not a good public health idea not to have public restrooms.”

Ray Souza, who lives on 21st Terrace, argued that there were no commercial amenities around the site. “There’s no ‘there’ there,” he said.

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Souza and others urged the city to consider a site near Centennial Park at Ninth and Iowa, an alternative that Commissioner Stuart Boley agreed with.

“I think it’s important for a transit center to be a destination center where there are amenities, restrooms, shelters, business opportunities,” he said. “And you can go to the park. Twenty-first and Stewart is more of a remote location.”

But Commissioner Matthew Herbert questioned whether the city should be committing to a transit hub at all, suggesting that the transit system itself, known as the T, could be in financial jeopardy within a few years unless Lawrence voters agree to renew a 1-cent sales tax to support it.

“The elephant in the room that didn’t get brought up is a very real threat of no funding for the T in a few years,” Herbert said.

He said that because the state of Kansas raised its sales tax rate this year to 6.45 percent, the combined state and local sales tax in parts of Lawrence is now more than 10 percent. And when voters are asked whether to renew that tax, he said many, including those who support and use the bus system, may take the opportunity to reduce their sales tax load.

“I think we have a real, legitimate threat,” Herbert said.

The cost of the project at 21st and Stewart was estimated about $4 million, plus a little more than $500,000 a year in annual operating costs. Those figures did not include the cost of land acquisition.

Nugent said having a central point where riders can transfer between routes is important, and the various places that have been tried downtown present problems, especially when downtown streets are blocked off for special events.

Commissioner Leslie Soden suggested the answer may be better transfer stations located in different parts of the city instead of a central hub that would intersect all routes.

In the end, commissioners directed staff to look again at other sites under consideration, and to include in any proposal the cost of providing public restrooms at the facility.

Train depot contracts approved

Also Tuesday, commissioners agreed to execute a series of contracts that will allow the city to take ownership of the BNSF Railway depot in East Lawrence, despite concerns that doing so could expose the city to financial liability in the event of a train accident at the location.

The unanimous vote capped more than seven years of effort by local residents who want to restore the depot to its original mid-20th century architectural style.

The city has already been awarded a $1.2 million federal grant through the Kansas Department of Transportation, and private groups have raised additional matching money needed to complete the project. One of the challenges, though, is that the depot is still in active use by both BNSF and Amtrak.

The contracts call for BNSF to transfer ownership of the depot to the city, and to lease back a portion of the building still used by the railway. But BNSF will retain ownership of the land on which the depot sits.

The deal nearly came undone at the last minute, however, amid concerns about a provision of the contract that says the city will be liable for any damage to the facility or personal injuries of people at the depot resulting from any accidents, including derailments, that may occur on the adjoining tracks.

“I don’t want to derail this project by any means, but I don’t feel good about it right now,” Mayor Jeremy Farmer said.

Interim city manager Diane Stoddard conceded that the liability provision was “not ideal.” But she said BNSF required that language in all similar contracts, and the company was completely unwilling to negotiate about it.

“There comes a point in these negotiations when you can’t negotiate any further,” she said, adding that she believes the project will provide benefits to the community.

In other business, the City Commission:

• Approved publication of the proposed 2016 budget summary and scheduled a public hearing on the budget for Aug. 4.

• Adopted on first reading an ordinance allowing the sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Aug. 23 in South Park and on Massachusetts Street during the Kansas State Fiddling and Picking Championships.

• Requested a report from staff about recent sewage spills into the Kansas River from the city of Topeka’s wastewater treatment plant and discussed sending letters to state and federal environmental regulators asking them to enforce applicable regulations.