photo by: Lawrence Transit

Two new electric buses added to the Lawrence Transit fleet feature designs from local Indigenous artist Iris Cliff.

The Lawrence City Commission on Tuesday will hear a presentation regarding the final two site options for a downtown transit hub.

The Downtown Transit Station Steering Committee has been working since January to find a suitable site for a bus station downtown. The city’s transit office has been working from a temporary hub across the street from the Lawrence Public Library for about a decade.

Commissioners will receive an update about the estimated prices and basic design concepts on two sites that they recommended moving forward during a meeting in October: city parking lot No. 9 on the west side of the 900 block of Vermont Street, and the current bus transfer area and city parking lot No. 14 in the 700 block of Vermont Street.

The project’s goal is to improve comfort and convenience for residents looking to use public transit in the city, according to the presentation included in Tuesday’s meeting agenda. The Downtown Station would serve the five routes that come in and out of downtown.

Each site would feature six bus bays, restrooms, a building for security and canopies and benches to provide more comfort for people waiting for the bus — all things the current location lacks. Additionally, the Downtown Station is planned to be staffed by the city from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, according to the Transit Department.

With the budget for the project at just over $2 million, the city estimates that the cost for construction at city parking lot No. 9 to be about $1.9 million, while the site at city parking lot No. 14 is estimated to cost just under $1.8 million.

Commissioners will be asked to provide feedback on the pros and cons of these final site otions. A final vote by the commission would happen in December, with the hope that construction could start in late 2025.

In other business, commissioners will:

• Provide feedback and direction related to a request from the Historic Resources Commission to impose a demolition moratorium for certain structures.

During discussion of the new Land Development Code, which was passed by the commission Tuesday night as the Journal-World reported, the HRC sent a letter to commissioners asking for a moratorium on the approval for demolition of structures that are 50 years old or older if they are located in an area where a historic survey is scheduled to be conducted.

The HRC is working on two historic surveys currently in University Place neighborhood and NAACP founders’ sites, according to a city memo.

The HRC in discussions thought the new code would be beneficial in supporting density in the city, and it generally supports revisions to the new code, but HRC members worried about unintended impacts to historic sites, including how the code could provide an incentive for the demolition of historic structures.

Another letter submitted to the commission, this one from the Lawrence Preservation Alliance, expressed similar concerns about what could happen to historic structures in Lawrence. While noting the organization did not have fundamental objections to the need for increased housing density, it also asked for preservation of historic structures through a moratorium, especially since the city is spending funds to determine if University Place could be nominated to the historic register.

The commission will not vote on anything in this regard Tuesday, but may instead ask the city staff to explore ways to implement the moratorium.

• Receive an informational presentation from Lawrence Community Shelter and City of Lawrence Homeless Solutions.

The commission requested a presentation from the Homeless Solutions Division and the shelter regarding the status of sheltering operations, staffing, facilities, outreach and other services.

During the election as the Journal-World reported, the residents of Lawrence voted to expand the city’s affordable housing tax to to help provide more funding for services to help people experiencing homelessness.

City officials and nonprofits like the shelter previously told the Journal-World that the expansion of the tax would be crucial to continuing to fund the city’s services as part of the “A Place for Everyone” plan to end chronic homelessness.