Speed humps and traffic-calming circles to be installed in some Lawrence neighborhoods

photo by: Mike Yoder

Neighbors living near 17th Street and the intersections of Illinois and Indiana streets want the city to remove the temporary traffic-calming

Devices to slow down traffic will soon be installed in several Lawrence neighborhoods, including four debated “traffic-calming circles” that will be constructed in the University Place Neighborhood.

Lawrence city commissioners are scheduled to give final approval for four traffic-calming projects — including the installation of speed humps, speed cushions and traffic circles — on Tuesday as part of their consent agenda.

In June, commissioners approved traffic-calming projects in the four areas in question, and the neighborhoods then began surveying residents living within a certain range of the proposed devices.

City policy requires that 70 percent of the property owners within 300 feet of each proposed traffic-calming device approve the device and its location, unless directed otherwise by the commission. The results of those surveys are in, and city staff are recommending that commissioners approve all four projects.

The projects are as follows:

Traffic-calming device definitions:

Speed hump: a rounded, raised area of pavement typically 12 to 14 feet in length and often placed in a series. Speed humps placed in a series are often 300 to 600 feet apart.

Speed cushion: a speed hump with an un-raised path for fire trucks and ambulances through the hump.

Traffic-calming circle: small landscaped circular islands constructed within intersections to provide geometric control to slow traffic on local streets where they intersect other local streets, and in some cases, where they intersect collector streets.

Source: City of Lawrence

• University Place Neighborhood: Four permanent traffic-calming circles, which will replace temporary circles currently in place. The circles will be located where 17th and 18th streets intersect with Indiana and Illinois streets. All but one of the devices received at least 70 percent approval, excepting 67 percent approval of the circle at the intersection of 17th and Illinois streets.

• Ousdahl Road: Three speed humps between 25th and 26th streets. Only one of the three speed humps received over 70 percent approval, but city staff are recommending approval of all three. Staff are citing “substantial neighborhood support” and difficulty contacting property owners because many are not residents in the neighborhood as the reason for their recommendation.

• Trail Road: Seven speed cushions on Trail Road between Lawrence Avenue and Kasold Drive. The speed cushions received 85 percent approval from residents. The exact location of devices will be coordinated with the neighborhood during design.

• Trail Road: Three speed cushions on Trail Road between Eldridge Street and Folks Road. Each speed cushion received 70-83 percent approval.

The traffic-calming project for University Place has received some of the most attention. The neighborhood is directly south of the University of Kansas and sees high traffic from non-residents who park in the neighborhood or use it as a cut-through from KU to 19th Street.

The temporary devices have been in place since 2004 and were made from parking blocks placed end-to-end in the shape of a hexagon with a reflective sign in the middle. Residents of the neighborhood appealed to commissioners ahead of their vote in June, some asking for permanent traffic-calming circles and others voicing opposition. A petition signed by 23 neighbors asked the city to remove the temporary traffic circles and not install new ones.

Though one of the traffic-calming circles proposed for University Place was a few points short of 70 percent target, city staff are recommending the commission approve all the circles due to overall support from the neighborhood association.

“We feel like we satisfied the city’s requirements for the 70-percent vote, and we’d like to have the permanent circles installed,” said Steve Evans, president of the University Place Neighborhood Association.

The recommendation also notes the traffic-calming circles were part of the original plan previously approved by the commission. The same process was followed leading up to the installation of the temporary traffic-calming circles, Evans said.

“If you ask the people that lived here that many years ago, they probably wouldn’t have expected to wait this long to get the permanent circles installed,” Evans said. “So, essentially, the position that a lot of people have is, ‘Well, gee, we voted on it in 2003 and it passed, and why shouldn’t we just go ahead and install the permanent devices.'”

The preliminary cost estimate for all four projects is approximately $247,000. However, there is only $220,000 budgeted toward the projects for 2016. The project will be bid and any work exceeding the budget will be completed next year, according to a city memo.

Commissioners will meet at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St.