Residents along 27th Street from Louisiana to Iowa streets are in need of some traffic relief. In fact, city officials probably should have acted months ago to help the neighborhood manage the totally predictable increase in traffic on 27th Street spurred by the closure of 31st Street west of Louisiana and recent construction at 23rd and Iowa streets.

Commissioners are scheduled tonight to discuss a report on a possible traffic-calming project for 27th Street that could cost about $200,000. The report cites traffic data collected in November 2012, as well as data collected a couple of weeks ago. The 2012 data indicated that the overall 85th percentile speed on the street was 38.1 mph and average traffic volume was 3,315 vehicles. The more recent study showed nearly triple that traffic volume (9,450 vehicles) but indicated the speed along that stretch actually had declined to 34.6 mph.

It’s understandable that residents are concerned about the huge volume of traffic moving through their neighborhood. The city could take temporary measures such as stop signs or temporary speed bumps to slow traffic now, but the speed doesn’t seem to be as big a problem as the traffic volume, which might or might not be reduced.

When 31st Street reopens this summer, traffic volumes on 27th Street should decline significantly. That will reduce, but probably not eliminate traffic issues on 27th Street. Based on the 2012 data, city commissioners in 2013 agreed with the city’s Traffic Safety Commission that traffic-calming measures were needed on 27th Street but noted that funding currently wasn’t available for that project.

That is true of most of the traffic-calming measures approved by commissioners in the last decade. Residents raise concerns about traffic in their neighborhood and the city responds by approving a traffic-calming plan that doesn’t get funded and therefore doesn’t get built. It’s a disingenuous but understandable strategy.

Traffic-calming has been pretty controversial in Lawrence. One way to keep too many projects from being built is to limit the funding. A better strategy, however, would be to take a harder look at which projects could have the greatest benefit and which ones the city should simply reject. Saying “no” isn’t easy but it’s as good as saying “yes” and then never funding the plan.

Once traffic gets back to normal on 27th Street, city officials will have an opportunity to take a more reasoned approach to traffic-calming measures on that street and the other 22 locations where such projects have been approved but not funded. The current traffic problems on 27th Street are real, but they shouldn’t be the basis for a long-term decision on traffic-calming measures.