A project to extend 19th Street eastward has neighborhoods raising concerns at City Hall.

The city is planning an approximately $3.6-million project to rebuild a half-mile segment of 19th Street and connect the street to O’Connell Road, but several neighborhood associations are concerned about the increased traffic the connection is projected to bring. On Thursday, the city’s Transportation Commission will hold a special meeting to discuss the project and the proposed connection.

Michael Almon, secretary of the Brook Creek Neighborhood Association, said that because homes border the full length of 19th Street, it should not be designed to hold additional traffic. Almon said the neighborhoods along 19th Street would like to preserve the residential character of the street, and that widening the street and adding the connection to O’Connell Road both go against that effort.

“The bottom line is that the four neighborhoods all along 19th Street are concerned about the whole of 19th Street remaining a low-volume residential street,” Almon said.

During previous discussions of the city’s capital improvement plan, members of the Barker, Brook Creek, University Place and Schwegler neighborhoods have voiced opposition to the City Commission regarding the connection. The Lawrence Association of Neighborhoods, which represents about a dozen neighborhoods, voted at its February meeting to oppose the connection due to concerns of drawing in increased traffic from nearby Kansas Highway 10, according to LAN meeting minutes.

City Engineer David Cronin said he understands the concerns about added traffic, but that the city needs to connect its transportation network. He said the connection to O’Connell Road provides Lawrence residents improved access to the adjoining business parks, VenturePark and East Hills.

“As the city continues to grow, we need to be able to provide street extensions that connect the transportation network to provide access to new areas of town,” Cronin said.

As part of the project, the city plans to rebuild 19th Street from Harper Street to O’Connell Road. Currently, that stretch of 19th — a narrow chip and seal road with no curbs — is in poor condition and dead-ends about 75 feet before it reaches O’Connell Road. Cronin noted that though the connection is projected to increase traffic on the segment being rebuilt, traffic on 19th Street is not expected to increase west of Haskell Avenue.

Specifically, traffic models indicate that if the connection with O’Connell Road is made, there will be about 1,000 additional trips, or an 18 percent increase in traffic, on 19th Street between Harper Street and O’Connell Road, according to a city staff report to the Transportation Commission. There is no increase in traffic projected on 19th Street between Haskell Avenue and Massachusetts Street.

The project is part of the city’s long-range transportation plan and included in the city’s five-year capital improvement plan. City staff is recommending the project take place in 2019 and include the reconstruction of the street and waterlines. The recommendation calls for the addition of sidewalks, bike lanes and transit access.

The recommendation also notes that the connection will improve emergency access. If 19th Street is to be connected to O’Connell Road, LAN is in favor of having a traffic barrier in place that provides access for only emergency vehicles, according to the minutes from the February LAN meeting.

As part of Thursday’s meeting, the Transportation Commission will consider city staff’s recommended project scope and design, including the recommendation to connect 19th Street to O’Connell Road. The City Commission will review the project at an upcoming meeting, and will have to approve funding for the project as part of its annual budget process.

The Transportation Commission’s special meeting to discuss the 19th Street project will take place Thursday at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St.