LAWRENCE — Students who walk or cycle to Lawrence Central High School and Belzer Middle School can look forward to a safer trek when a sidewalk on the drawing table for 16 years will finally be installed on the north side of 56th Street between Boy Scout Road and Franklin Road.
In addition, a trail connecting Sunnyside and Oaklandon roads and not far from Amy Beverland Elementary School will be built for pedestrians and cyclists in the corridor once proposed for an extension of 79th Street. Back in the late 1990s, neighbors strongly opposed construction of a street in the heavily wooded area, causing the city to set it aside.
Mayor Dean Jessup recently got word that $3.9 million awarded to Lawrence in 1999 to undertake the two projects will be provided to Lawrence to build the 56th Street sidewalk and a multi-modal trail instead of a city street in the 79th Street corridor.
The sidewalk will provide a safer passage for students who walk or ride bicycles to school, and it also borders the south edge of Fort Harrison State Park so it will serve a recreational purpose.
At least two public hearings will be held on each project so neighbors may voice their opinions. If the projects proceed, preliminary engineering and design likely will occur this year, with construction to take place in 2016.