LAWRENCE - After all the construction on 6th Street this summer, the last thing Lawrence drivers want is another major street project. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what the Public Works Department is gearing up for. The city hopes to rebuild Iowa street from Harvard Road south to the Irving Hill Overpass.
 
The extra space will be needed to add center turn lanes. The city is also planning major renovations to the intersection of 15th and Iowa including right turn lanes in all directions and raising the intersection to match the surrounding elevation. Public Works Director Chuck Soules says the improvements are necessary for two reasons.
 
“The condition of the road as we saw from last winter started to fail. The base is crumbling,” said Soules. “The other issue with that road is safety. It doesn't have a left turn lane from Iowa north to Harvard and we have several streets that intersect. We have people that are driving trying to go through and then people that are stopping in the through-lane of traffic trying to make those left turns and then we have a lot of accidents within that corridor."
 
The project could begin as early as summer of 2014. Soules readily admits that it will be a nightmare for drivers. “It’s going to take probably right at a year or better to complete,” he said. “We're trying to minimize all the delays and everybody's inconvenience, but there’s going to be some because it's a big project."
City gearing up for another major road project
 
After all the construction on 6th Street this past summer, the last thing Lawrence drivers want is another major street project. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what the Public Works Department is gearing up for. The city hopes to rebuild Iowa street from Harvard Road south to the Irving Hill Overpass.
 
The extra space will be needed to add center turn lanes. The city is also planning major renovations to the intersection of 15th and Iowa including right turn lanes in all directions and raising the intersection to match the surrounding elevation. Public Works Director Chuck Soules says the improvements are necessary for two reasons.
 
“The condition of the road as we saw from last winter started to fail. The base is crumbling,” said Soules. “The other issue with that road is safety. It doesn't have a left turn lane from Iowa north to Harvard and we have several streets that intersect. We have people that are driving trying to go through and then people that are stopping in the through-lane of traffic trying to make those left turns and then we have a lot of accidents within that corridor."
 
The project could begin as early as summer of 2014. Soules readily admits that it will be a nightmare for drivers. “It’s going to take probably right at a year or better to complete,” he said. “We're trying to minimize all the delays and everybody's inconvenience, but there’s going to be some because it's a big project."