It is not the final leg of the South Lawrence Trafficway, but city leaders are beginning to discuss a plan for alleviating the amount of truck traffic on 23rd Street. The city’s Traffic Safety Commission will consider on Monday a request to designate 31st Street between Haskell and Iowa as a truck route. They’ll also consider designating Haskell between 31st and 23rd streets as a truck route. Those two new designations would give semi-trucks traveling through the city another route option. Currently, trucks that only are passing through Lawrence are required to stay on state highways. For trucks coming off the western leg of the South Lawrence Trafficway, that means they have to travel down Iowa Street and then work their way down busy 23rd Street, which also serves as Kansas Highway 10. One question that arises, however, is whether 31st Street can handle the additional truck traffic. David Woosley, the city’s traffic engineer, said the portion of 31st Street that is maintained by the city is rated to handle the heavy truck traffic. But a portion of the road – the part that mainly travels through the Haskell and Baker Wetlands – is maintained by the county. Whether it could handle the additional traffic is still an open question. Mayor Mike Dever had brought up the idea of adding new truck routes, and referred the issue to the Traffic Safety Commission for a recommendation. City commissioners will make the final decision on the matter. The Traffic Safety Commission meets at 7 p.m. on Monday at City Hall, Sixth and Massachusetts streets. Also on the commission’s agenda is a request to establish a marked crosswalk at the intersection of Dakota and Louisiana streets. Download the full agenda and supporting materials here.