photo by: Chad Lawhorn

Perhaps you are like me and you vaguely remember a street — I think it was called 31st Street — that would take you between Haskell and Louisiana. Perhaps you are like me and have had your vehicles filled with a metric ton of concrete by construction crews as you “check” to see if that street has reopened. Well, that portion of 31st Street is not yet open, but a brand new, multimillion dollar stretch is indeed open. And it may be the most unique stretch of street in the city right now.

The portion of 31st Street between Haskell and O’Connell is open to traffic. But this new $4 million section of 31st Street has a much different feel to it than many other new roads. For starters, it is a street that is one lane in each direction, but those single lanes are separated by a median.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn

In addition, the street continues a new trend of narrow lanes for traffic. The street features 11-foot wide lanes, rather than what used to be the standard 12-foot lanes. The street also has no curb and gutters. Stormwater is meant to soak into the ground surrounding the project, or runoff through natural means. And if you have ever questioned Lawrence’s commitment to being pedestrian or bicycle friendly, drive this street. There is a 10-foot wide multi-use path on the south side of the street and a 6-foot wide sidewalk on the north side of the street. In addition, the street has two four-foot lanes that aren’t technically wide enough to be labeled bike lanes, but they’re certainly wide enough for bikers to use.

Think about this for a second: On the south side of the project there is actually more concrete devoted to pedestrian and bicycle traffic — 10-foot rec path plus four-foot quasi bike lane — than there is devoted to motorized traffic. On the north side of the project it is about a tie — 11 feet for motorized vehicles and 10 feet for pedestrians and bikes. Walking and biking have a lot of environmental benefits, but the amount of concrete used per user is not one of them, at least on this project. I’m not trying to make any judgments here, but rather just asking whether this is the new future for roads in Lawrence?

“We are trying for our new projects to have that more complete street feel,” said City Engineer David Cronin, referring to a design term that highlights the importance of including pedestrians and bicycle features into street designs.

I didn’t use either the rec path or the sidewalk while I was there, but I’m told the sidewalk on the north side of the street goes within about 30 feet of Mary’s Lake, the picturesque city park that is in the area. I’ve been told it will be fairly easy to make a connection between the 31st Street sidewalk and the trail system that runs around Mary’s Lake and connects to the Prairie Park Nature Center.

The project also includes another feature that is making a comeback in Lawrence: a roundabout. The new intersection of 31st Street and O’Connell includes a roundabout. Cronin said if his count is right, it is the 20th roundabout installed in the city.

The work on 31st Street is just one small way the landscape is changing in that area. The new Haskell Avenue is also now open. It is a much curvier street than it used to be. It’s alignment is now farther east than it previously was. The road now runs east of the small industrial/office area that was located at the old intersection of 31st and Haskell.

The bridge in the background is part of the pending South Lawrence Trafficway interchange.

Motorists also have two new traffic lights to navigate. One is at the new 31st and Haskell intersection, and the other is a short block away on a new road called Horizon, which leads into the industrial/office area. That stoplight also is at the entrance to the interchange for the South Lawrence Trafficway.

The new Haskell goes south of the South Lawrence Trafficway and connects with the old portion of Haskell — or County Route 1055 — right before the Wakarusa River bridge. The southern section of Haskell Avenue does have an interesting feature that has caused some questions from motorists. There’s a pretty noticeable dip in the road south of the SLT interchange. In a small way it reminds me of my second favorite activity from my re-creations of “The Dukes of Hazzard” — jumping over a country ravine. (My favorite activity, in case you are wondering, is eating BBQ ribs in a pristine white suite and cowboy hat, while jumping over a country ravine.) I will check in with KDOT officials to find out of if the dip is here to stay or what is involved. It is not like your car bottoms out in it, but it is noticeable enough that some people have asked about it.

While I was out and about in the area, I also took a photo of the new College & Career Center that the school district is currently constructing. It is highly visible from the new Haskell. It is adjacent to the Peaslee Tech vocational center that is opening this fall.

As for the opening date for the section of 31st Street between Haskell and Louisiana, city officials tell me they are still hearing from the state officials that oversee that project that it will be open around the end of the summer.

In other news and notes from around town:

• While lawmakers in Topeka were doing the very important work of banging their heads against the newly renovated brick walls of the Statehouse, a new federal report came out that measured the Kansas economy. It gave the state a middling rating.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis released its estimates for gross domestic product growth for each of the 50 states in 2014. That GDP statistics are basically the broadest measure of a state’s economy. The new report found Kansas’ GDP grew by 1.8 percent in 2014, which is less than the 2.2 percent national growth rate, but was a higher growth rate than several in our region.

Kansas’ growth rate in 2014 ranked 21st. The 1.8 percent rate was the best growth rate for the state since 2011, when we had 3.6 percent growth in GDP.

Here’s a look at how Kansas has fared over the years, and also compared to the national average for those years:

2014: up 1.8 percent (National: up 2.2 percent)

2013: down 0.3 percent (up 1.9 percent)

2012: up 0.4 percent (up 2.1 percent)

2011: up 3.6 percent (up 1.4 percent)

This most recent report does rank Kansas’ GDP growth second among the seven states that make up the Plains Region. Here’s a look:

Iowa: up 0.4 percent

Kansas: up 1.8 percent

Minnesota: up 1.4 percent

Missouri: up 0.9 percent

Nebraska: up 0.7 percent

North Dakota: up 6.3 percent

South Dakota: up 0.6 percent

In terms of other border states, both Oklahoma and Colorado had higher GDP growth rates in 2014. Oklahoma was at 2.8 percent and Colorado was at 4.7 percent.

The report also provides information on what parts of the Kansas economy were growing. It does show signs of growth in the much talked about business sector that has been an emphasis of the Brownback administration. Growth in the category of “management of companies and enterprises” added 0.37 points to Kansas’ GDP. That was better than the national average of 0.18 points. The category saw the greatest reduction in Kansas was government activity. It reduced the Kansas GDP by 0.17 points. That was greater than the national slowdown of government activity, which reduced national GDP by 0.2 points.

• Here’s hoping I find where my wife put my white suite and cowboy hat because we’ll all have a chance to do some barbecue eating this weekend. I’ll again be a judge for the Fire in the Hole BBQ competition. The public portion of the event will begin at noon on Saturday at the Eagles Lodge, 1803 W. Sixth St.

There will be at least eight barbecue teams cooking chicken, beef, pork and other barbecue items. Members of the public can pay $10 to sample a ton of food. Children pay $5. The best part is all the proceeds go to the Douglas County Toys for Tots and the Lawrence Police Blue Santa program, which provides toys, gifts and other assistance to families in need, especially during the holiday season.