1311 Prairie Ave.                                                                                                       4 September 2007

Lawrence, KS 66044

re:        Burroughs Creek Trail Master Plan, regular agenda item #1

Lawrence City Commission

City Hall

6th & Massachusetts St.

Lawrence, KS 66044

Dear Mayor Hack & Commissioners:

Thank you for your consideration of implementing a Master Plan for the Burroughs Creek Trail.  As the Land Use Chair for Brook Creek Neighborhood as well as member of the Burroughs Creek Area Plan Committee (BCAPC), it is rewarding to see our multi-neighborhood efforts approaching fruition.

As for the Master Plan presented by Parks & Recreation Dept. in your agenda, it shows little detail of what promises to be a viable asset to both the eastside neighborhoods and the City of Lawrence at large. 

So I would like to make some comments.

Funding: The BCAPC has been frustrated with how Parks & Rec have planned funding.  First of all, the Burroughs Creek Corridor Plan identified KDOT grants (FHWA Transp. Enhancement) as only one of four good funding sources.  We questioned Parks & Rec about why they had submitted only the one KDOT application in 2006, and none of the other grant options.  Now, Parks & Rec is making the same mistake, creating artificial limits on Trail funding levels.

Please instruct staff to simultaneously pursue all four relevant funding sources, which are:

1) KDOT Transportation Enhancement grants

2) the Lawrence CIP-2006-2011 line item of $370,000 identified as the “Two Rivers Trail”

3) the FHWA Recreation Trails Program grants

4) the Natl. Park Service “Heritage Preservation Services” grants, tied into the fact that the original railroad was begun by John Speer, early Lawrence settler, publisher, and subject of the John Speer Memorial site in Hobbs Park

Phasing: The members of the BCAPC engaged in design with Bartlett & West emphasized several times that we do not want the trail built in segments, but all at once.  Currently, Phase I is for 11th Street south to 15th Street, and Phase II from 15th Street south to 23rd Street.

First of all, if Parks & Rec would not limit themselves to only one funding source, there potentially could be adequate funds to build the entire project as planned.  But if funds do prove difficult to secure, then the BCAPC clearly said that the first priority of construction is the trail itself, and any amenities be secondary.  For example, a splash park is an unnecessary $250,000 item.  A side trail to Forest Ave with two bridges is redundant to the 19th Street bicycle lanes, and is an unnecessary $100,000 item.  Things like trail head parking, rest rooms, and drinking fountains are really all that is needed.

Trail Surface: Again, the BCAPC members emphasized that the trail surface must be equivalent to current Federal standards and Lawrence Public Works and Parks & Rec standards, that is 4” thick X 10 foot wide concrete surface.  That is what is provided elsewhere in town, and the eastside deserves the same.  City staff and Bartlett & West have acknowledged concrete is best for long term cost and maintenance.

thank you for your support,

Michael Almon