photo by: Rochelle Valverde

Part of the Lawrence Loop trail near the intersection of 12th and Oregon streets is pictured on Monday, July 16, 2018.

The city has received a grant to help complete two sections in the trail system that will someday encircle Lawrence.

Once complete, the Lawrence Loop will provide a continuous 22-mile concrete path around Lawrence, with connector trails linking it to neighborhoods. The city recently received a state transportation grant of nearly half a million dollars to help complete two sections of the trail in eastern Lawrence, but it will need to set aside additional funding as part of its upcoming budget process.

The $480,000 Kansas Department of Transportation grant is for 2020 and requires a 20 percent match and other funding from the city, most of which the city has included in tentative budget plans. The grant will help complete sections in the trail from Eighth to 11th streets and 29th Street from the Burroughs Creek Trail to Haskell Avenue, according to a news release from the city.

City Engineer David Cronin said in an email to the Journal-World that to complete the two sections, the city would need to provide $426,000 in funding. He said that amount includes the $96,000 for the grant match and additional funding for the design, right-of-way acquisition and inspections for the project. The Lawrence City Commission already allocated $100,000 in this year’s budget for design of the loop, and Cronin noted that $300,000 was allocated in the 2020 Capital Improvement Plan as part of last year’s budget process.

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Currently, there are four gaps in the loop, and the grant would go toward closing a gap near Haskell Indian Nations University and closing about half of another gap that is east of downtown Lawrence. The section near Haskell would include a 10-foot-wide path on the south side of 29th Street from the Haskell Rail Trail to Haskell Avenue, according to Cronin.

For the gap east of downtown, Cronin said the new section would run from Eighth Street to 11th Street adjacent to an abandoned section of railroad track. He said the alignment would require an agreement with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway railroad. A study of potential routes to complete the loop completed by BG Consultants in 2017 found that the railway owns the majority of the property. The study notes the route could reclaim some of the abandoned railroad property and clean up the area, where a substantial amount of trash has been dumped.

As part of the budget process last year, the City Commission amended the 2019 budget and the tentative Capital Improvement Plan for future years so that it would include more funding for the Lawrence Loop. Commissioners indicated at the time that they wanted to increase funding for the loop in order to make more progress toward its completion.

The CIP is examined every year as part of the budget process, and Cronin said a request would be made this spring as part of the budget process for 2020 to fund the remaining costs for the two sections.

Construction of the Lawrence Loop began more than 20 years ago, and segments have been added incrementally through state transportation grants and other grant programs, according to the news release. The loop is currently about 78 percent complete, and Cronin said that once the two sections are added it will be 81 percent complete.

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