East 23rd Street Corridor Study

The East 23rd Street Corridor Study will develop a vision and implementation strategy for East 23rd Street, providing an opportunity for the public to reimagine the street.  This study will lay the foundation for the design of East 23rd Street from the Haskell Bridge to 600 feet east of Anderson Ave. when it is reconstructed in 2021-22.

23rd St Study

The study will provide a public visioning process and existing conditions evaluation including: current and future land uses, multimodal traffic counts, access management, crash history, multimodal needs. The process will provide recommendations for and a concept level multimodal (auto, transit, bike, pedestrian, freight) transportation plan.

Next Steps

In late June a survey, visioning session and open house were held to gather the community’s vision for the future of East 23rd St from the Haskell Bridge to O’Connell Road. The sessions developed a conceptual plan for the future of east 23rd. The consultants have documented the process and prepared a plan for approval. Once the plan is approved, the City of Lawrence can move into the design phase in 2020 with construction in 2021.

The draft plan will be presented at the following public meetings for feedback and public comment opportunities:

  • Tuesday, September 3rd 1:30 pm | Metropolitan Planning Organization Technical Advisory Committee |  City Hall Riverfront Ad Astra Room, 1 Riverfront Plz., Suite 32
  • Monday, September 9th 6:00 pm | Transportation Commission | City Commission Room, 6 East 6th St.
  • Thursday, September 19th 3:00 pm | Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Board | City Commission Room, 6 East 6th St.
  • Tuesday, November 5th 5:45 pm | Lawrence City Commission | City Commission Room, 6 East 6th St.

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Planning Process

The study will include in-person and online engagement and will follow the Public Participation process outlined in the Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (MPO) Public Participation Plan. A three-day visioning and planning charrette and two-hour public open house will be held to gather input on the project. A survey will be utilized to gather input on existing conditions. Mailers will be sent to all property owners (north and south), from Learnard Ave. to the eastern city limits, notifying them of the open house and survey. Notifications of public input opportunities will be sent via the to the MPO’s Transportation Planning, MPO Policy Board, MPO Technical Advisory Committee, the Lawrence Transportation Commission, and media lists.  Once the plan is drafted, it will be presented to the Technical Advisory Committee, MPO Policy Board, and the Transportation Commission prior to consideration by the Lawrence City Commission.

The Steering Committee and Project Advisory Committee were approved by the MPO Policy Board on April 18. View the lists here.

Project Advisory Committee/Steering Committee Meetings

The three-day visioning and planning charrette was held during the week of June 24 at the Douglas County Fairgrounds Flory Meeting Hall (2120 Harper Street). On the first day, the consultant team worked with the Steering Committee and the Project Advisory Committee to establish a vision for the plan and develop a set of guiding principles to inform the broader planning process and charrette. On days two and three, the team explored potential solutions for achieving this defined vision through a charrette, utilizing preference exercises, individual and group discussions, and other activities. The consultant team used preliminary information and maps to establish the project vision, gather feedback, and sketch concepts in real-time. This process was exceptionally interactive, allowing the public to see how the process incorporated their input.  On the third day, the Steering Committee, reviewed the public input, preferred concepts, and ideas to draft a conceptual plan for the East 23rd Street corridor.

 Tuesday, June 25th

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: Meeting -Visioning Session Download

Wednesday, June 26th

8:00 am – 9:00 am: Meeting – Review of Initial Concepts

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm: Meeting – Review of Narrowed Concepts

Thursday, June 27th

10:30 am – 12:00 pm: Meeting – Open House Download / Final Concept Review

**Project Advisory Committee/Steering Committee meetings are open to the public, but there will be no public comment opportunity.

Public Comment Opportunities

Visioning Session & Open House

The Visioning Session and Open house were held at the Douglas County Fairgrounds Flory Meeting Hall (2120 Harper Street).

Tuesday, June 25th

  • 8:00 am – 12:00 pm: Visioning Session– Public is invited to participate in conversations of the following topics: Existing Conditions, Access Management (traffic, driveways, turn lanes, medians), Bicycle/Pedestrian, Transit Amenities, Aesthetics (gateways, landscaping, lighting), and Economic Development (redevelopment, land use).

Wednesday, June 26th

  • 5:00 – 7:00 pm: Open House – Public is invited to view the progress from the charrette and share their thoughts on the outcome.

Survey

A project survey was available on Lawrence Listens.