photo by: Nick Krug

Construction continues within Kansas University's Central District on Monday, Feb. 29 2016. The city plans to rebuild much of 19th Street, at right, between Iowa Street, not pictured, and Naismith Drive, including the intersection of 19th Street and Ousdahl Road, bottom right.

Part of 19th Street will soon shut down for the summer, pending City Commission approval Tuesday of an approximately $685,000 project to reconstruct the 19th Street and Ousdahl Road intersection.

Work on Kansas University’s new Central District project is well underway, and a main entrance to the area will be off 19th at Ousdahl. The stretch of 19th Street from Iowa Street to Naismith Drive, including the Ousdahl intersection, is in poor shape, public works officials have said.

photo by: Nick Krug

A rendering of the planned reconfiguration of the Ousdahl Road-19th Street intersection.

“The intersection… is a key component to the Central District improvements, 19th street and neighborhood access,” Public Works Director Charles Soules wrote in a memo to commissioners.

KU is paying to extend Ousdahl north of 19th Street and install a traffic signal at the intersection. The city will be responsible for financing the remainder of it. City commissioners will vote Tuesday on awarding a bid for the project to R.D. Johnson Excavating Co. for $685,629.

Closure of the intersection was slated for any time after KU commencement, which was Sunday. It will remain inaccessible until classes resume in August. More work, on the southern portion of Ousdahl Road, will be done in August and September.

In March, commissioners approved a $43,000 agreement with an engineering firm for the final design of the 19th and Ousdahl intersection.

In an effort to prevent drivers cutting through the residential neighborhood south of 19th Street, vehicles traveling on Ousdahl will only be able to make a right or left turn onto 19th Street.

photo by: Nick Krug

A rendering of the proposed plan for the intersection of Iowa and 19th streets. If approved, construction on this part of the 19th Street project would begin in 2017.

Because of the significant work to KU’s Central District, public works officials are suggesting 19th from Iowa to Naismith be reconstructed soon after the intersection project.

The city is planning three lanes for the half-mile stretch, one lane in each direction plus a center turning lane. Under the proposed design, there would be dedicated bike lanes in each direction, and an 8-foot sidewalk would be installed on the north side of the street. There is already a sidewalk on the south side.

At Iowa Street, 19th would be widened to include more turning lanes.

Completion of that project, which is included in projects funded with the infrastructure sales tax, is expected sometime in 2017 or 2018.

In other business, commissioners will:

• Receive a report on new benches being installed at bus stops around Lawrence.

Prompted by a small movement last summer of East Lawrence residents placing makeshift benches around their neighborhood, Lawrence Transit System started this winter to plan for more amenities. It decided on 12 benches, which will be installed starting in June.

photo by: Nick Krug

Improvised bus benches located at 16th Street and Haskell Avenue are pictured. The city is working on installing real benches at the location.

The locations receiving benches are: 3215 Ousdahl Road; 31st Street at Cottonwood Inc.; Dillon’s near 23rd Street and Naismith Drive; Free State High School; 15th Street and Haskell Avenue; Fourth and Maine streets; 20th and Louisiana streets at Lawrence High School; Ninth and Ohio streets; and 31st Street and Lawrence Avenue at First Step House.

The transit system chose the locations after evaluating passenger boardings and safety concerns.

• Vote on adding a crossing guard to the intersection of Sixth Street and Schwarz Road starting in the 2016-17 school year.

Ron May, director of administrative services for Lawrence schools, sent a request in October to the city for a new crossing guard. Starting next school year, a boundary change will go into effect, meaning students north of Sixth Street and west of Kasold Drive will attend Sunset Hill Elementary. It’s estimated 35 to 50 students will use the intersection.

Lawrence’s Traffic Safety Commission unanimously recommended in March that a new crossing guard be added to Sixth and Schwarz. The addition will cost approximately $5,500, which is not budgeted for 2016.