To the editor:

Recently, the Journal-World has published staff editorials criticizing a proposal for a roundabout at the intersection of Kasold Drive and Harvard Road, and to replace Kasold’s divided four-lane boulevard with single driving lanes, a dedicated center turn lane and bike lanes. The Journal-World cites the city engineers’ and planners’ reasoning and counters their expertise with speculation and personal perceptions.

While I respect and applaud journalism’s role to question institutional forces that might make capricious decisions to the detriment of the community, the choice of editorials rather than investigative journalism by the editorial staff makes this topic difficult to discuss constructively.

The Aug. 23 editorial states that city engineers have “by some calculation” come to predict that Kasold will be able to handle future traffic in this configuration, while at the same time making the road safer, as well as implementing a design that hands the city $1 million in cost savings over more traditional designs. These traffic estimates “seem to border on the fanciful,” they say.

I encourage the Journal-World staff to consider Ninth Street east of Emory, which also used to be four lanes wide. It now boasts exactly the configuration intended for Kasold. This is not fanciful. This is practical and pragmatic. And it will likely work well in Lawrence — for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists alike.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t have public discussion on this design, but implying there isn’t due diligence on the part of city staff is simply wrong, mean-spirited, and a disservice to the community.