The Douglas County Commission will be asked Wednesday to address a traffic safety concern brought to light with the removal of trees along a scenic Kansas River road northwest of Lawrence.

In February, a contractor for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad removed trees without an approved township or county permit along a portion of North 2050 Road west of East 850 Road. Lecompton residents were critical of the removal of trees along the scenic road and the condition in which the crew left the work area, which was cleaned up only after their protests.

The incident brought to Douglas County Public Works Director Keith Browning’s attention existing safety concerns along the stretch, which has sections with little or no shoulder and which drops off steeply to the north. Since that time, the county has installed warning signs and markings to warn of curves, steep shoulder inclines and objects near the road, Browning wrote in a memo to commissioners.

Browning is requesting that commissioners impose a 30 mph speed limit on the road. The road currently has no posted limit, which allows 55 mph traffic or a “reasonable or prudent” speed that is difficult to enforce, Browning wrote.

In other business, commissioners will consider:

• Making permanent the 35 mph speed limit and 5-ton commercial truck limit on North 1300 Road from East 1600 Road to a point where the roadway was improved as part of the South Lawrence Trafficway project east of East 1700 Road. The current temporary speed and weight limits were imposed to manage traffic during construction of the SLT.

• Approving annual road maintenance assessments for a one-of-a-kind county road improvement district near Eudora. Browning proposes the 2018 maintenance assessments for the 42 residents of the Hesper Charter Road Improvement District increase from this year’s $303.40 per resident to $400.32. The increase corresponds with an end of annual assessments charged to residents for the 2005 capital cost of improvements to the roads.

The Douglas County Commission meets at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St. A complete agenda can be viewed at douglascountyks.org.