photo by: Nick Krug

Queens Road north of West Sixth Street is shown in this file photo from April 2017.

City leaders are set to decide how much taxpayers will contribute to the reconstruction of Queens Road.

At its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission will consider proceeding with two benefit districts to pay for improvements to Queens Road and its intersection with West Sixth Street. The benefit districts were agreed to years ago, but last year neighborhood representatives requested that the city, and by extension its taxpayers, contribute more toward the roadway.

City staff is recommending proceeding with the formation of the benefit districts and that the city cover the $350,000 cost of adding bike lanes and multiuse path along the road, according to a city staff memo to the commission. More than 90 percent of the $5.3 million to reconstruct the road and add a traffic signal at its intersection with West Sixth Street will be charged to property owners in the benefit districts.

Developers of the area, and by extension the current property owners, agreed not to protest the benefit district when the properties were platted years ago. When the benefit district was discussed last year, commissioners listened to nearly two hours of public comment from residents. Many homeowners noted that there are other roadways in and out of their neighborhoods and that they weren’t aware they were in a potential benefit district when they purchased their homes. In addition to the request that the city pay for a larger share of the project, residents requested other options, such as expanding the benefit district or changing how the costs are assessed among the property owners.

There are dozens of properties in the benefit districts, and as proposed, the assessments for the district would be calculated based on each property’s square footage. City staff reviewed alternative assessment methods with bond counsel, but states that those methods were not recommended because they are either not explicitly authorized by state law or similar assessment methods have been treated negatively by Kansas courts, according to the memo.

City staff is recommending one addition to the district, a property located at 1677 East 1000 Road, according to the memo. The property is currently outside the city limits but is adjacent to Queens Road, and staff is recommending that it be annexed into the city.

Another chief complaint of the residents was that a large contributor of traffic on Queens Road will be from new apartment complexes in the area. One complex, The Links, includes hundreds of apartments.

City staff notes that 68 percent of the cost of the improvements will be paid by commercial development, 25 percent by residential, and the remaining 7 percent paid by the city. The memo states The Links development is contributing $1.4 million, or 31 percent, to the benefit district and it is constructing Wakarusa Drive from George Williams Way to Queens Road.

The City Commission will convene at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St.