photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

The intersection of 19th and Massachusetts streets on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. The traffic light at this intersection will be replaced in a future project.

Lawrence has received a $50,000 grant from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas to make improvements to its bus stops on the southern part of Massachusetts Street.

The city announced the funding from the insurer’s Pathways to a Healthy Kansas program early Friday afternoon. It didn’t provide specifics about what projects the grant would fund at the bus stops, but it did say that they would be part of the upcoming reconfiguration of Massachusetts Street from 14th Street to 23rd Street. That project is slated to start later this fall, the city has said.

In its news release on Friday, the city said the grant was written in part based on input from students in local STEAM — or science, technology, engineering, arts and math — classes.

“In fall 2025, City of Lawrence and Lawrence-Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Organization staff engaged with local STEAM classrooms to allow students to envision corridor improvement opportunities,” the city’s release said. “… That engagement provided students an opportunity to learn about and help inform real-world transportation improvements in their community while providing the project team with another perspective on how people move through and experience the Massachusetts Street area.”