photo by: City of Lawrence

A new perforated metal bus shelter that the city is installing at some bus stops is pictured in this contributed image.

Now that plans for the city’s new bus station are moving forward, the City of Lawrence has begun a project to add shelters, benches, bicycle racks and other features close to various bus stops.

Eighteen bus stops will receive additions in four phases, with the first phase of the project concluding this week and the remaining phases continuing for the rest of the month. The bus stop improvements vary by stop, but include the addition of shelters, benches, bicycle racks or trashcans, or some combination of those features, according to a listing from the city.

Bus stop and traffic adjustments will be required while each stop is being worked on, including temporary lane and sidewalk closures near the stop, according to a city news release. While work is being done on individual stops, bus riders will have to use a different bus stop. Riders can find alternative bus stops on lawrencetransit.org, by calling 785-864-4644, or on the My Bus Lawrence app.

Transit & Parking Manager Adam Weigel said for those stops receiving shelters, the shelters will be either prefabricated glass shelters, new perforated metal shelters, or shelters made in collaboration with Peaslee Tech and Struct/ReStruct. He said benches will be a mix of prefabricated four-foot and six-foot benches and collaborations with two community partners for custom benches.

The city has 360 bus stops and had previously delayed making improvements to some stops for years because the location of the city’s new bus station was not established and routes would likely change. As the debate about where to locate the station stretched on for several years, residents have in some cases built benches themselves or set out chairs for riders to sit on, as the Journal-World reported in 2015 and 2020.

The city and the university coordinate their bus routes, and in 2019 the City Commission settled on locating the bus station on KU property on the southeast corner of Bob Billings Parkway and Crestline Drive. Design work on the $6-million bus station is now underway.

Benches or shelters were added to several bus stops last year, and at that time Weigel said that 85 of the city’s 360 bus stops had some type of seating that had been installed by the city. He provided the following schedule for this round of bus stop improvements.

July 6 – July 10

• Fourth and Maine Northbound, Route 3, Stop 150: bench, bicycle rack

• 12th and Haskell Northbound, Route 1, Stop 368: shelter

• Sixth and Wisconsin Eastbound, Route 6, Stop 180: shelter, bicycle rack, trash can

• 19th and Massachusetts Southbound, Route 7, Stop 116: bench

• 8th and Vermont, Route 4, Stop 138: bench

July 12 – July 17

• 27th and Iowa Eastbound, Routes 5/11, Stop 68: shelter, bicycle rack, trash can

• 27th and Redbud Eastbound, Routes 7/11, Stop 18: shelter, bicycle rack, trash can

• 25th and Louisiana, Routes 7/27, Stop 55: bench

• 31st and Nieder, Routes 5/7/9/11, Stop 5: shelter, trash can

July 19 – 24

• 21st and Stewart, Route 38, Stop 316: shelter, bicycle rack, trash can

• Wakarusa and Harvard, Routes 9/10, Stop 80: bench

• Clinton Parkway and Crossgate, Routes 9/29, Stop 31: shelter, trash can

• Clinton Parkway and Hartford, Routes 9/29, Stop 344: shelter, bicycle rack, trash can

• Clinton Parkway and Kasold, Routes 9/29, Stop 30: shelter, bicycle rack, trash can

July 26 – July 31

• 27th and Iowa, Route 7, Stop 24: shelter, trash can

• 27th and Redbud, Routes 7/11, Stop 19: shelter, bicycle rack, trash can

• 31st and Harrison, Routes 7/9, Stop 10: shelter, bicycle rack, trash can

• 27th and Holcom, Route 7, Stop 16: bench