photo by: Bremen Keasey

Schwegler Elementary School, located at 2201 Ousdahl Road. Lawrence City Commissioners approved an over $900,000 plan to fill in sidewalk gaps in the area around the school.

Lawrence city commissioners approved a construction project Tuesday night that will fill in sidewalk gaps around Schwegler Elementary School as part of the city’s Safe Routes to Schools program.

The commission approved a $922,489.50 bid to Kings Construction Co. Inc. for sidewalk and ADA ramp improvements along multiple routes around the Schwegler neighborhood.

The improvements, which were identified back in 2023, would be completed on Ousdahl Road from West 19th Street to West 26th Street, along West 25th Street from Ousdahl Road to Cedarwood Avenue, on West 25th Street from Ridge Court to Iowa Street and along Redbud Lane just south of West 25th Street. According to a city memo, the sidewalk improvements should be finished later this summer.

The Safe Routes to School program in Lawrence started in 2014 and involves the health department, the school district, the City of Lawrence and the Lawrence-Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Organization, as the Journal-World reported. Part of the work is identifying sidewalk gaps — streets with no sidewalks or sidewalks only on one side — along commonly used school routes.

The portions of Ousdahl Road identified with this project have sidewalks on only one side of the road, and the side with sidewalk switches sides partway through, forcing pedestrians to cross the road.

The project received a federal grant in 2023 that reimbursed the city for 80% of the construction costs, meaning the total cost to the city would be just $184,497.90.