The Douglas County Commission on Wednesday approved contributing 20 percent of the cost of installing a traffic signal at the intersection of West County Road 458 and U.S. Highway 59.

Douglas County Public Works Director Keith Browning told the commission the project’s total cost would be $170,000. The state was asking the county to contribute about $34,000 toward the signal.

“That seems reasonable,” Browning said. “The signal is needed now. It shows good faith if we participate.”

KDOT officials have indicated the signal at the intersection just south of the Wakarusa River about a mile south of Lawrence would be installed in the fall of 2017, Browning said.

The traffic light was much discussed this spring as KDOT considered with local jurisdictions four options for the Kansas Highway 10/Kasold Road intersection. KDOT eventually selected an option that will restrict turns to and from Kasold Road and East 1259 Road at the interchange to right-on, right-off.

During those spring discussions, KDOT officials said the only option that would require the immediate placement of a light at U.S. 59/County Road 458 would be the closing of K-10/Kasold Drive intersection.

Roger Anderson, who lives near U.S. 59/County Road 458 and uses it on his commutes to Lawrence, referenced that earlier KDOT stance in voicing opposition to the county participating in the signal. He told commissioners he had no difficulty getting through the intersection and saw no justification for the signal.

With the work to alter the K-10/Kasold Drive intersection not yet underway, KDOT hasn’t had the chance to study how traffic will change patterns there or on U.S. 59, Anderson said.

Commissioners, however, disagreed.

“I said throughout the discussion, I thought it had to be done,” said Commission Chairman Jim Flory. “I think it is the right thing to do.”

Although KDOT officials said in May that the right-in, right-out Kasold Drive option wouldn’t require the immediate installation of a signal at U.S. 59/County Road 458, they had indicated traffic was near the threshold of warranting a signal and would continue to monitor the intersection, Browning said. It was their judgment a signal would be justified in the fall of 2017, he said.

In other business, commissioners:

• Approved awarding a contract to Shafer, Kline and Warren to conduct a feasibility study on the Oklahoma-based Delaware Tribe’s plan to develop 90 acres it owns northeast of the Kansas Turnpike toll plaza in North Lawrence. The $83,000 study is to be paid for with a Douglas County Natural and Cultural Heritage Grant awarded in May.

After consultation with neighbors and community leaders, the Delaware Tribe proposes developing the site as an agricultural experimental station, which would produce for sale high-value crops and heritage seeds that the Delaware and other Native American tribes traditionally use for food and medicinal plants. The property would also serve as an educational and job training site and a base for nutritional outreach.

During the next seven to nine months, Shafer, Kline and Warren will study the revenue generation potential of the plan, as well as work with the tribe and community to “create a compelling narrative for the project” and design the site’s elements.

• Approved replacing lighting in the Indoor Arena at the Douglas County Fairgrounds with energy efficient LED lighting. Douglas County Sustainability Director Eileen Horn and Fairground Maintenance Director David Sparkes estimate the lighting switch will reduce energy costs in the building by $552 a month. At that rate, savings from the LED lights will pay for the investment in three years, Horn said.