Thursday, November 12, 2009
Leaders of a project that would create a lighted pathway connecting the University campus and Downtown Lawrence settled on details of the project Wednesday, including deciding on a proposed location and types of lighting.
Elise Higgins, Topeka senior and community affairs director for Student Senate was one of the leaders who met Wednesday at the Kansas Union. She said the group would like to see construction begin next summer.
“We’ve come to a consensus on a number of key issues to this project,” Higgins said. “We’re well on our way.”
After walking the proposed paths yesterday, the leaders came to an agreement on the location. Under the proposal, the path would run directly down 12th Street from Vermont to Louisiana streets. If funding is available, project leaders said they would also like to add lighting to sections of 14th and Ohio streets.
Higgins said the proposed path would be constructed over the existing sidewalk on the north side of 12th Street. Pedestrian control crosswalks would be constructed near Kentucky and Tennessee streets.
Higgins said leaders of the project would also like a similar path to run down 14th Street between Louisiana and Ohio streets, and down Ohio Street to meet up with the other pathway. Depending on funding, this portion of the project could happen later than the first phase of the path construction.
“If we get all the money we’ve asked for we could get this done at the same time,” Higgins said.
Higgins said leaders agreed on the lighting system of the path, which would consist of motion-sensor LED lighting structures standing between 3 and 4 feet tall. The lights would remain on during the evening hours at a dimmer setting and would brighten as people walked by. They would remain off during daylight hours.
“I think this will help very much with the light pollution and energy efficiency concerns,” Higgins said.
The lack of lighting in the area had been a safety issue for many years, Higgins said, but recent attention to violent crimes in the neighborhood had students and community members asking about a safe walkway. A number of campus and community organizations came together in August and began discussing options for such a path.
Leaders of the project will now begin asking for the community’s opinion on the project, especially property owners in the area of the proposed path. Leaders are also working on requesting funds for the project from the City of Lawrence, the University and federal and state grant programs.
Mark Thiel, assistant director of the city’s public works department, said the city’s preliminary estimates suggested the path could cost as much as $350,000.
“Final cost estimates will be developed once the specifics about the project are worked out,” Thiel said.
The city’s public works department has identified the lighted pathway as one of three projects it plans to submit for consideration of a Community Development Block Grant.
In a memo to the city manager, Thiel said the staff was requesting $150,000 in CDBG money for the pathway project.
“A lighted corridor from campus to downtown will improve public safety and encourage economic growth,” Thiel said in the memo.
Margene Swarts, assistant director for the city’s planning and development services, said the city was accepting applications for CDBG grants through Dec. 1 and expected to have about $800,000 in available funds. CDBG funding is provided annually by the federal government.
Swarts said the Community Development Advisory Committee would review the applications and make recommendations on grant allocation in May. City Commissioners will make the final decision on grant allotment.
Additional funding would potentially come from the University, the City of Lawrence and a state Transportation Enhancement Grant, Thiel said. He said the city had not yet determined the amount in TE grants or city funding they would be requesting.
Higgins said she planned to request funds from the Student Senate’s reserve funds and the Campus Safety Advisory Board. Higgins said she would ask for a total of $150,000 in University funds.
Stakeholders who have, at some level, been involved in the project so far include Student Senate, the Campus Safety Advisory Board, the All Scholarship Hall Council, representatives from GSP-Corbin, the Panhellenic Association, Interfraternity Council, the Oread Neighborhood Association, GaDuGi Safecenter and the KU Public Safety Office, among others.
— Edited by Tim Burgess
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