photo by: Nick Krug

Vehicles pass through the intersection of Harvard Road, left to right, and Kasold Drive, pictured Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016.

The majority of the Lawrence City Commission’s members indicated they were not in favor of a reconstruction plan for a portion of Kasold Drive that could reduce the number of lanes when the street is rebuilt next year.

Commissioners discussed two options for rebuilding the section of Kasold that runs from Sixth Street and Bob Billings Parkway at their work session on Tuesday, and will take a final vote on the matter at an upcoming meeting. One option would reduce that section of the roadway to one lane of traffic in each direction, down from the current configuration of two lanes in each direction.

City staff members are recommending the reduced option, and city engineers said that area of Kasold is no longer developing and traffic has been stable since 1992. But Lawrence Mayor Mike Amyx said he was concerned about reducing one of the three north-south roadways through Lawrence — Iowa Street, Kasold Drive and Wakarusa Drive — when development continues on the west side of town.

“I think we need to remember that a lot of that new development is probably going to happen in the areas west of Iowa Street,” Amyx said. “Even though we are in this area here heading to 100 percent development, it’s still going to have an impact because of the development that’s going to happen in the west.”

As part of the work session, city engineers compared a traditional five-lane option with a “complete streets” three-lane option, which is designed to be safer for motorists, pedestrians and cyclists. The complete streets three-lane option includes the installation of a single-lane roundabout at the Harvard-Kasold intersection. It calls for one northbound lane, one southbound lane and a center turn lane.

The second option was a traditional five-lane street configuration. The five-lane option includes the installation of a traffic signal at the Harvard-Kasold intersection. It calls for two northbound lanes, two southbound lanes and a center turn lane.

Both options include bike lanes, sidewalks and the potential installation of a traffic signal at the intersection of Eighth Street and Kasold Drive, which is currently a three-way stop. The complete streets three-lane option would allow for a buffer between traffic and bike lanes.

Commissioners Leslie Soden and Matthew Herbert also indicated they were not likely to vote in favor of the three-lane option. Herbert, who lives on Kasold Drive, said he informally polled his neighbors by passing out 200 flyers asking if residents were for or against reducing the number of lanes on that section of roadway. Herbert said 94 of the 100 responses he received back said they were opposed to a lane reduction, and that input would bear on his vote.

“It’s our job to represent the people who put us here, and with a 94 percent vote saying that they want that street kept as a four-lane road, that’s going to be where I tend to lend my vote,” Herbert said.

One of the main benefits of the three-lane option touted by City Engineer David Cronin was the increased safety for motorists, pedestrians and cyclists. Cronin said that one lane of traffic prevents motorists from passing, which reduces speeding on the street. A roundabout also presents fewer areas of conflict among motorists and between motorists and pedestrians than a traffic signal.

The project has a design and construction budget of $5.35 million, which will be funded with infrastructure sales tax funds. The three-lane option would be about $1.16 million less than the five-lane option, owing in part to less pavement being involved as well as $600,000 of state aid that would go toward construction of the roundabout.

Commissioner Stuart Boley was the only one who spoke out explicitly in favor of the three-lane option. Boley said he supported the three-lane option not only because it was less expensive, but because it would be safer for all those who use the roadway.

photo by: Nick Krug

Vehicles exit and proceed toward the intersection of Harvard Road and Wakarusa Drive, pictured Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016. City commissioners are looking at the possibility of a roundabout at the intersection.

“Safety on our streets is not a concept that’s hard to understand,” Boley said. “There are people who are walking, and there are people who are riding bikes in this stretch of road. We need to be concerned about their safety, as we’re also concerned about the safety of the people in the cars.”

Commissioner Lisa Larsen said that though she believes in the complete streets concept, she would like to see more data regarding accidents and traffic projections from Lawrence that indicates it will work well in that section of Kasold Drive.

“I’m just not quite convinced that this is the proper place for it,” Larsen said. “It doesn’t mean I don’t think it could happen, but I would like to see more data from Lawrence about roundabouts, more crash information.”

More than a dozen people who lived on or near the section of Kasold Drive spoke in opposition to reducing the number of lanes on the roadway, the majority citing concerns that it would cause traffic to get backed up.

Commissioners also discussed the addition of another two-lane roundabout at the intersection of Wakarusa Drive and Harvard Road. The alternative to the roundabout would be adding a traffic signal to replace the four-way stop currently in place, and several commissioners indicated they were in favor of a roundabout in that location.

Commissioners will vote on both the Kasold Drive reconstruction and the reconstruction of the Wakarusa-Harvard intersection at their meeting Sept. 6.