photo by: Bremen Keasey

A broken section of sidewalk is pictured in July 2024 in East Lawrence.

Lawrence city commissioners will consider approving an application for a federal grant that could net around $22.9 million for sidewalk and other pedestrian improvements across the city.

The city is aiming to earn funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant, according to a city memo. If the city wins the grant, it would receive about $21 million for the construction of new pedestrian crossings for transit stops, building new sidewalks where there are currently gaps and reconstruction sidewalks and building bus stops that will meet ADA requirements.

The city would spend $1,882,000 million in local funds for design and easements as part of the project. The city also plans to spend about $25,000 to help prepare the grant application. The city noted in a memo to commissioners that Lawrence is using the same consultant the City of Topeka used when it successfully applied for the same program several years ago.

The proposed improvements would mostly focus in areas in East Lawrence, with many of the projects centered around downtown and around the University of Kansas, according to grant application materials. The project that is the farthest west is an ADA Sidewalk reconstruction project along the section of Bob Billings Parkway with Lawrence Transit’s Central Station.

Other areas highlighted in the application include:

• Portions along Ninth Street near downtown and the University of Kansas campus;

• Various areas between downtown and the KU campus;

• Connections between downtown and the eastern edge of the Lawrence Loop trail;

• Portions along 19th and 21st streets;

• Portions along Naismith Drive;

• Portions along Louisiana Street

photo by: City of Lawrence

The map shows potential sidewalk and pedestrian improvement projects the city of Lawrence may undertake if it wins a large federal grant.

Additionally, the areas of focus for the grant project also would add sidewalk improvements in areas of persistent poverty, which align with the federal grant’s priorities, as well as working on priorities the city has set out on a local level to improve pedestrian infrastructure, such as the ADA Public Right-of-Way Transition Plan — a 20-year, $103 million plan for bringing pedestrian areas to ADA standards — and the Safe Routes to Schools Plan.

Improving pedestrian safety is a key focus of both those city plans. A city presentation said 32% of the routes that would be improved are within a high injury network. 117 injury crashes occurred between 2019 and 2013 on the portions of the roadways that would be improved, with 11% of those involving pedestrian or bike users.

A city presentation lists a wide variety of local people or groups supporting the proposal, including Sen. Jerry Moran, the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, University of Kansas Innovation Park, the Sustainability Action Network and the East Lawrence Neighborhood Association.

If the city commission approves the grant application, the city would hear whether it has won the funding or not later this summer. If all goes well, the plan would be to begin construction on these projects in 2027.

In other business, commissioners will:

Consider approving a rezoning request to change 4.9 acres of land at 566 George Williams Way from residential zoning to a commercial area.

That chunk of land near the corner of Sixth Street and George Williams Way had the rezoning request unanimously approved by the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission in December, as the Journal-World reported. The Planning Commission approved making that area a CN-2 neighborhood commercial zoning district, which allows for a variety of small business uses ranging from offices for service businesses to general retailers.

The leasing agent for the property previously told the Journal-World that quick service restaurant users have expressed the most interest in the property. That could include anything from traditional fast-food chains to coffee shops. A concept plan required as part of the rezoning maps out how three buildings could be placed on the site, with parking in the center of the property, but a new owner could come up with a more specific plan.

The item is listed under the commissioner’s consent agenda, which means it could be considered under one vote; however, because it is a quasi-judicial item, a commissioner or a member of the public could request that it be removed from the consent agenda so it will be voted on separately.

Consider a final development plan for a multi-dwelling residential community at 5555 West 6th Street that would remove an access gate from an entry.

When the apartment complex, known as Alvadora Apartments, initially was constructed in 2007, other nearby residents were concerned about cut-through traffic, so the developers added a gate. Because the gate is now considered in poor condition and an additional access point was completed in 2018, the developer wants to remove the gate.

This item was heard before the commission in April 2024, but was denied 5-0 in part because the applicant was not present at the meeting, according to a city memo. Since the project is deemed a “significant change” from the approved development plan, the commission must approve the proposed change.