CITY MANAGER’S REPORT

Week ending June 24, 2011

 

 

6th Street , Kansas River Bridge and Tennessee Street overlay projects

The city is coordinating with KDOT on the timing of two street maintenance projects in the downtown area. The 6th Street (Massachusetts to Iowa) KLINK mill and overlay project should start the week of June 27, and the portion from Massachusetts to Kentucky should be complete within three weeks. KDOT also just awarded the bid for the overlay of the Kansas River Bridge, and that project is slated to begin as the Massachusetts to Kentucky portion of the 6th Street mill and overlay is completed. 

 

Also, Tennessee Street, from 10th to 19th, will be milled and overlaid beginning the week of July 18, 2011, as part of the city's Overlay Program, Phase 2 project. On Monday, July 18, Sunflower Paving will begin milling Tennessee while allowing one lane of traffic. We anticipate little or no full depth patching once the milling is complete. If patching is necessary it will begin on Tuesday with traffic allowed.

 

On Tuesday, July 19, Tennessee from 10th to 19th will be closed to place the asphalt overlay.  Complete closure of the street will reduce the length of time for completion of the work, minimize inconvenience and delays, and provide a better product. The closure for the overlay is expected to last one day.

 

Media notice will go out well in advance of this project. The contractor has agreed to go door to door and give written notice to the residents along Tennessee the week prior. We will also place message boards at each end of the project on Friday, July 15.

 

Tour of Lawrence activities to begin Friday

The Tour of Lawrence bicycle events kick off on Friday, July 1 with the Street Sprint on the 700 block of New Hampshire. The campus course will be raced on Saturday, July 2, and the event will conclude with the downtown criterium on Sunday, July 3. More information on the events, including maps of the courses, can be found at http://touroflawrence.com/schedule.html.  

 

New ‘Good Neighbor Brochure’ released

The Communications Office recently updated the city’s ‘Good Neighbor Ordinance’ brochure.  The brochure highlights several topics, including parking, occupancy and trash, that are commonly seen in neighborhoods around Lawrence. The brochure is now available at the KU New Student Orientation meetings held this summer and will be available on the city’s website (www.lawrenceks.org/legal/brochures).  Additionally, the same information was provided in a press release on Wednesday, June 22 that went out to all city news email subscribers.

 

Expansion of microsurfacing program

The Public Works Department has expanded microsurfacing projects (a component of the Annual Pavement Maintenance Program) to include arterial streets such as Clinton Parkway.  Microsurfacing has proven to be an effective tool in saving money as well as allowing maintenance of more street lane miles which equates into higher PCI ratings, lower deterioration rates, better road appearance and ride. Please see attached memo for more information.

 

Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center 10th Anniversary – June 3, 2011

The Indoor Aquatic Center celebrated its 10th Anniversary on June 3rd with an all-day event subtitled, “Ten Hours. Ten Programs. Ten Years of Excellence.”  Beginning at 10 a.m., the Aquatic Center showcased ten of its most popular programs—one each for ten hours. Featured programs (shown below) were free to the public and drew in roughly 350 participants over the course of the day. Another 100 patrons came to simply enjoy the discounted admission of $1 per person. Swimmers of all ages enjoyed the festivities and the free food, and some even signed up for full sessions of the programs featured throughout the day. The LIAC 10th Anniversary Party was coordinated by Aquatic Programmer Jai Hoyer and the LPRD Aquatics Management team; events were run by management and part-time staff.

 

10 a.m. Life Guard Training/CPR Demos

3 p.m. Private Swim Lessons

11 a.m. Warm Water Fitness Classes

4 p.m. Group Swim Lessons

12 p.m. Deep Water Aerobics

5 p.m. Buck Night!

1 p.m. Bookworms & Waterbugs  

6 p.m. Family Fun Friday (live music, free hotdogs)

2 p.m. Birthday Party Package

7 p.m. Kid’s Night Out (crafts, games, and pizza)