photo by: City of Lawrence

The City of Lawrence released renderings of the proposed design and layout of the city's new bus station last year.

Lawrence Transit on Thursday announced that its two major public transit improvements planned for August — the opening of the city’s new multimillion-dollar bus station and the subsequent introduction of redesigned routes that better align with the new facility — have been delayed until early next year.

The “multimodal transit transfer facility” located at the corner of Bob Billings Parkway and Crestline Drive has been in the works for years, with the City of Lawrence most recently releasing design renderings for public input early last year. According to Thursday’s release, several factors led to the delay, including supply chain issues, unexpected utility relocations and staffing changes in the groups working on the project.

The release doesn’t mention whether this delay will affect the timeline for other changes associated with the new routes, such as an Uber-like “microtransit” program offering on-demand service to individuals in Lawrence on Sundays.

“We are so excited to bring this major improvement to bus riders in Lawrence,” Adam Weigel, transit and parking manager, said in the release. “As the project has progressed, it became evident that if we want to launch this new facility and service correctly, we need more time. We apologize to our riders who are inconvenienced by this delay, and we know the end result will be worth the wait.”

Lawrence Transit has been operating at Seventh and Vermont streets as a temporary hub for a decade. After the new station opens, seven routes will serve the new facility and five routes will continue to serve downtown Lawrence. According to the release, a future public process will determine whether the transfer location for those buses should remain at Seventh and Vermont or at another downtown location.