The Lawrence Times

The City of Lawrence is studying options to change a stretch of Massachusetts Street with a goal of better accommodating drivers, people on foot, wheelchair users, bicyclists and transit riders. The city is conducting a multimodal corridor study on Mass from 14th Street south to 23rd Street, according to a recent news release. The road is part of the priority bikeway network under the Lawrence Bikes Plan. The study will include “safety, efficiency, and equity considerations for all modes of transportation,” according to the release. “A roadway reconfiguration can improve safety, calm traffic, provide better mobility and access for all road [...]

Members of the Lawrence and Douglas County community are invited to learn about the county’s open space planning progress and share their feedback during an open house this week. ... “It is an opportunity for community members to stop by and learn about the project team’s progress and to provide feedback,” according to a news release from the county. “There will be activities for children and a raffle entry for all attendees.” This open house will build on previous events held in May and June. Project team members will look to gather feedback on the focus areas and preliminary recommendations, according [...]

Within two days of announcing a new online form to report people living outside to Lawrence’s homeless programs team, the city had received more than four dozen responses regarding approximately 20 camps. City staff members are upping their efforts to discourage people from making new campsites in areas where the city has deemed it illegal. That includes parks, sidewalks, the public right of way, and on private property without the owner’s consent. Staff members are also formulating plans to make progress with residents of the longer-term campsites that are pretty well established and have larger populations. The city on Wednesday announced [...]

Lawrence Transit’s Central Station is nearing completion. The new facility will serve as the central hub for bus transfers, a departure from the longtime downtown transfer point. What city staff members say will be a new era of public transport in Lawrence comes after nearly a decade of studies, planning and funding. Members of the Public Transit Advisory Committee got a tour of the facility Monday afternoon. The station, located just west of Bob Billings Parkway and Iowa Street near the KU campus, promises to be more than just a transportation hub, according to city staff members. It is designed to [...]

A computer network incident in Kansas interrupting electronic filings and payments in the state’s appellate courts and the district courts in all but populous Johnson County has been extended indefinitely, officials said Monday. The Kansas Supreme Court issued an updated administrative order indicating clerks in 104 counties were unable to receive online filings. The cause, which hasn’t been precisely explained, hasn’t forbidden clerk offices from operating. However, all filings must be executed with paper, delivered by hand or through the mail, or with a fax machine. The order signed by Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Marla Luckert would allow individuals to [...]

There’s now a blooming garden at every school site in the Lawrence school district. One school garden, cared for by the Billy Mills Middle School Garden Club, grows tomatoes, purple peppers, radishes, garlic and an abundance of other vegetables. Club members plant flowers and tend to natural species of plants while engaging with the insects fluttering, crawling or wriggling within the ecosystem. Billy Mills sixth grader Delyla Kring-Hicknan said she feels fully connected to nature when gardening, especially since club members don’t spray herbicides or pesticides on the garden. And they get to enjoy the food they grow. “I just love [...]

Lawrence city commissioners approved a tweak that will open up more single residential lots to possibly be developed with two small affordable homes. City commissioners in 2019 approved a text amendment to allow two affordable homes to be built on one lot, if projects meet several conditions. But city code currently does not allow development of two smaller homes on certain types of lots. The new text amendment the commission approved Tuesday will change that, opening up more than 1,000 lots to the possibility of being developed with two affordable single-family homes. City staff members had had recommended opening up the [...]

The Legislature’s perennial failure to invest in lowering local property taxes left Miami County with a budget dilemma this year. The sheriff’s office, competing with higher wages for law enforcement in the neighboring Kansas City metro area, was about 20 deputies short of a full staff. Faced with the prospect of raising property taxes to pay for better salaries, Miami County Commissioner Rob Roberts said the question he had to ask was: “Are we going to have law enforcement in Miami County?”... Roberts joined Bruce Chladny, executive director of the Kansas Association of Counties, on the Kansas Reflector podcast to talk [...]

If you need a ride overnight, Lawrence Transit has launched a new, fare-free option to get a lift anywhere within city limits. Lawrence Transit On Demand service runs from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday through Friday and 8 p.m. to midnight on Saturday, according to a recent news release from the city. “You can expect to see the same friendly bus drivers in our smaller buses that are all ADA accessible and equipped with bike racks,” according to the release. The service will be fare-free for 2023, as are all fixed route buses and T Lift. It’s a shared ride [...]

Mayor Lisa Larsen on Tuesday called for the city to push back against people camping around town. City staff members and her fellow commissioners said they agree that the situation needs to change, but there was not a feasible way to end camping right now. City staff members provided commissioners with an update Tuesday on efforts to deal with the growing homelessness and housing crisis. After a staff presentation, commissioners heard from about 20 people, including many business owners; no one who identified themselves as homeless spoke during the meeting. Source: The Lawrence Times