What is considered Downtown Lawrence? A new survey asks the public to help Lawrence Transit define the downtown boundary in order to find a permanent home for its downtown station.

“We’re excited to step back into downtown transit improvement discussions with the public,” said Adam Weigel, Transit and Parking Manager. “Later in the year, people will have a chance to suggest the exact place they think would work best, but the first step is to decide what area boundary we are looking within. After this boundary is finalized, we won’t be able to consider sites outside of it.”

Purpose of this survey:

Current downtown transit transfers lack safe, comfortable, and operationally efficient infrastructure. The first step to select a site for downtown transit improvements is to define a boundary. Once approved, only sites within the selected Downtown Station boundary will be considered. The city is asking for the public’s input on suggested revisions to the draft boundary.

What’s next:

• A final recommended boundary will be reviewed and voted on by the Downtown Transit Station Steering Committee in May 2024 and voted on by the City Commission in June 2024.
• Step 2 includes developing criteria to evaluate sites (Apr 2024 – Aug 2024).
• Step 3 includes soliciting site ideas, then evaluating them against the criteria and choosing a final site for design and construction (Jun 2024 – Dec 2024).

Even though Central Station recently opened, there are five bus routes that will continue to serve Downtown Lawrence. The Downtown Station site selection process aims to improve comfort and convenience to encourage more transit ridership today and in the future. In comparison with the design and construction of Central Station, less significant improvements will be needed for the Downtown Station.

The main elements that have been identified to include in the site design for Downtown Station are:

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

Take the survey here: https://lawrenceks.org/listens/surveys/. For more information, please see the Downtown Station Project Page.

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