At their meeting on Tuesday, City Commission narrowed down the options for a Downtown Transit Station site. Commissioners considered five sites and chose two of them to proceed to the next step, developing concept site plans. At this time, the sites are not in ranked order. They are as follows:

• Site 006: City parking Lot #9 (west side of 900 block of Vermont St.)
• Site 018: Current bus transfer area + City parking Lot #14, 700 block of Vermont St.

The next steps in the process are:

• 10/8-10/25: Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) assists in concept site plans and updated cost analysis.
• 11/12 or 11/19: City Commission has a work session to provide direction on a preferred site.
• 11/19-11/29: KDOT assists in completing a federal planning worksheet.
• 12/10, or 12/17: City Commission votes on a preferred site.
• 12/17-1/15: KDOT assists in completing a federal worksheet for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
• 2025-2026: The design and construction process occurs.

Of the 20 bus routes in Lawrence, five routes will continue to serve Downtown Lawrence. The goal of a new Downtown Station is to improve comfort and convenience for bus riders, in order to encourage more transit ridership today and in the future. The main elements that have been identified to include in the site design for Downtown Station are:

• Driver restrooms
• Individual bus bays
• Seating and wind protection
• Next departure signs
• Weather protection canopies

As part of the 2026 Transit Department operational budget, Downtown Station is planned to be staffed with security personnel from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

Read more about Downtown Station here: https://lawrencetransit.org/projects/downtown-station

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