photo by: Austin Hornbostel/Journal-World

The Douglas County Commission listens as county counselor John Bullock explains the process for how they’ll soon review a petition for incorporation filed by residents who wish to establish the City of Clearfield in Douglas County.

Douglas County leaders on Wednesday granted their approval to commit millions of dollars in local funding, in partnership with the City of Lawrence, toward the future expansion of the South Lawrence Trafficway.

The Douglas County Commission voted unanimously to send a letter to the Kansas Department of Transportation indicating the county’s willingness to match a portion of the $124,000,000 cost for what KDOT refers to as the “-03 project.” The project would widen the highway from two lanes to four lanes between Iowa Street and the Kansas Turnpike interchange. The Lawrence City Commission made its portion of the pledge on Tuesday.

With the commitment from both the city and the county, KDOT will be able to move the project into its construction pipeline for a potential 2024 start.

The two local governments will be teaming up to match about 10% of the $124,000,000 cost. Their total funding commitments add up to $13,920,500, and public works director Chad Voigt clarified Wednesday that the amount is actually covered by a suite of separate projects that would have happened anyway but also relate to the SLT.

“The good news is the things we are being asked to commit are things that we’re already doing,” Voigt said. “That’s one of the things about this concept of local match, is it’s not cash. It can be cash a little bit, but they’re willing to look at things that we’re doing locally for major projects that are related to this project and call that local match.”

Unlike the County Commission, the City Commission was not unanimous in its approval. Lawrence Mayor Courtney Shipley voted against it because she had concerns about one of the projects in the local match, which would extend Wakarusa Drive south across the Wakarusa River to County Route 458.

One public commenter who spoke to the County Commission via Zoom on Wednesday voiced concerns about that project, too, in terms of its environmental impact on the river. Voigt said that there were some standard procedures that would happen automatically with such a project to account for environmental protections, such as regulations for runoff control. Commissioners Patrick Kelly and Shannon Reid agreed that the environmental impact should be an important consideration.

In other business, the commission:

* Heard about the process for reviewing a petition for incorporation filed by residents who wish to establish the City of Clearfield in Douglas County, which will include a public hearing set for June 15 with a variety of requirements, in accordance with state statute.

Clearfield is currently an unincorporated community located 9 miles northeast of Baldwin City. Area residents filed the petition in late March.

Carrie Brandon, who identified herself as City of Clearfield Committee chair, also spoke to the commission during the public comment period for this agenda item and claimed that census data from within the proposed city boundaries would place the population at around 1,200. Earlier this year, county officials told the Journal-World that the proposed city boundaries would include 415 people.