photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

The North Lawrence corridor study task force meets Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, at the Union Pacific Depot in North Lawrence.

Before sharpening its goals for the future, the North Lawrence study task force on Wednesday night had some questions about the past.

Some of the members, who were tasked with coming up with a vision statement for the study, were wondering what made it unique among all the other studies and plans the city and the county had done. Some didn’t want to waste time duplicating older work.

And as for North Lawrence Improvement Association President Ted Boyle, he said his neighborhood is “up to here with studies.”

What their task was, they were told by consultants from HNTB Corporation and city staff, was to narrow those other efforts down to just get at the goals for North Lawrence and the rural areas north of it. And through some back-and-forth “wordsmithing,” they did, crafting a vision statement about infrastructure, agriculture, housing, recreation and more that will guide the study as it progresses over the next year.

As the Journal-World has reported, the city is spending just under $400,000 for HNTB’s services on the study, which will ultimately help inform future decisions about the areas north of the river. The task force has now met twice this year.

This time around, task force member Jane Eldredge wanted to know how the “visions and goals” would differ from those in the city-county comprehensive plan, Plan 2040.

“What’s wrong with the values that already exist?” she asked.

And Boyle, who has led the North Lawrence Improvement Association for 30 years, had doubts that even the previous studies and plans were working. He said there were “a lot of lower-cost items” identified in previous studies, such as backup power for stormwater pumps, that he hadn’t seen action on from the city.

“I’ve visited every business here for the last 20 years,” Boyle said, “and they’re all sick and tired of the studies. The residents are tired of the studies because nothing gets accomplished.”

City staffers at the meeting told Boyle that this study could be a first step toward an “implementation plan” for projects in North Lawrence. They and Matt Bond, a former stormwater engineer for the city, told him that the work on Wednesday night was just a first step.

“You’ve got to start somewhere, Ted,” Bond said. “I mean, that’s part of the reason we have the task force.”

Bond said he’d heard comments like the ones Boyle was talking about back when the study was doing its listening sessions with the public. Some people, he said, “were thinking that we already had our minds made up on what was going on.”

“It’s not our minds, it’s yours,” he said. “The city’s not driving this. The consulting firm’s not driving this. This is completely organic in how you’re going to come up with these vision statements and how this is going to play out.”

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

A marked-up sheet of paper shows the development of the North Lawrence study vision statement.

The vision statement they did come up with was, “A safe, economically vital, well-connected community with functional infrastructure, affordable housing, working lands, resilient utilities and access to services, healthy food & outdoor recreation.” While member Nancy Thellman said she wasn’t the best at “wordsmithing” or writing by committee, the ideas had to be refined, and the consultants from HNTB marked up the statement and edited it as it developed.

The members also brainstormed about the goals and values for the study. Some were broad, like “cross-river and intra-community connections” or enhancing green spaces and recreation.

Others were more focused, like the idea of railroad quieting. Some members of the task force said that people in North Lawrence get used to the noise, while others pointed out that passing trains outside the Union Pacific Depot had made it harder to hear in that very meeting.

“I mean, how many times has the train gone by?” member Michael Wasikowski said.

And the task force’s final list of values and goals didn’t forget about the areas north of town. One item on the list was “Celebrate Local Agriculture,” which could mean valuing small family farms and prime farmland and also areas like the Ballard Center and community gardens.

Now that the task force has articulated its goals and vision more specifically, the consultants will be planning another round of workshops for the public. The target date for the study’s completion is in the spring of 2027.

The list of values and goals:

• Improve Community Connectivity

• Enhance Open Space and Recreation Opportunities

• Support Economic Growth

• Increase Housing Options

• Reinforce Community Identity