The City of Lawrence’s draft Streets and Sidewalks policy is available for public comment until June 25

Photo taken by: Rochelle Valverde/Journal-World

Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., January 31, 2023

After more than a decade of work, the City of Lawrence’s draft comprehensive streets and sidewalks policy is now available for viewing.

The city announced Wednesday that the draft policy is available for public review and comment from now through Tuesday, June 25. The city will also host a public open house on the policy this window, next Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont St.

As reported by Journal-World, work on creating a policy for the maintenance and maintenance of brick streets and sidewalks has been ongoing since 2013. Over the past several months, the city has been gathering feedback on the potential policy, both at other open houses and events, and through a recent community survey.

That resulted in the release this week of a 20-page draft policy that outlines the scope for maintaining the “unique character and charm” of existing historic districts by preserving exposed brick streets and sidewalks as historic properties in accordance with certain standards and specifications.

“However, these historic assets must be balanced by our city’s ongoing commitment to developing and maintaining public right-of-way infrastructure that removes barriers and advances accessibility and equity for all Lawrence residents,” the draft policy reads.

The policy — which includes installation and maintenance standards, along with specification sheets and maps of the areas near downtown Lawrence where it will apply, as well as the existing condition of the brick roads — was written by Lawrence city staff with the help of a subcommittee. According to Wednesday’s news release, the project was approved by the city’s Multimodal Transport Commission.

Photo taken by: Screenshot of the city of Lawrence

This map shows the areas around downtown Lawrence where the draft brick sidewalk policy would apply, based on different types of historic districts and “overlay” zoning districts.

Specifically, the policy specifies exactly where brick sidewalks are appropriate – specifically in local, state or nationally designated historic districts and in certain “overlay” zoning districts, which are overlaid on primary zoning classifications for the purpose of amending zoning laws – and how they should be distributed. installed and maintained to meet accessibility standards. The release states that all public sidewalks, even historic brick sidewalks, must meet the “Public Wayside Accessibility Guidelines” (PROWAG) under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The policy also sets maintenance standards for exposed brick streets and outlines a process for renovating covered brick streets through adopted neighborhood plans.

“This new proposed process aims to balance the unique character of our vibrant historic districts with planning for future capital improvement projects,” Wednesday’s press release read.

In terms of maintenance, property owners are considered responsible for maintaining and keeping in good repair the brick sidewalks adjacent to their property, similar to the city’s policy regarding the maintenance of other paved sidewalks in the city. Meanwhile, streets are to be maintained by the city of Lawrence and renovated or repaired “as resources and funds are available” if brick streets do not meet safety standards.

In addition to these nuts and bolts, the plan also specifies the type of bricks considered “historic”; they are generally red and sometimes marked “Lawrence, Kansas” or “Lawrence Vit. Brick What.” The draft policy calls for the preservation of such bricks whenever possible and states that any bricks recovered from the right-of-way are the property of the City of Lawrence.

There is even a section of the draft policy that includes examples of typical brick pavement patterns, from “herringbone” to various variations of “basketweave.” The policy states that many brick pavement patterns may meet PROWAG standards and any brick pavement pattern may be used if installation standards are met. The policy also calls for projects to use “best efforts” to rebuild sidewalks to their existing pattern.

Photo taken by: Screenshot of the city of Lawrence

The draft Brick Streets and Sidewalks Policy includes examples of common brick sidewalk design patterns such as this one.

The full draft policy is available for viewing on a dedicated project page on the city’s website. The project website also includes more information about policy and community engagement efforts to date, as well as an online feedback form to submit public comments on the project by June 25 at 11:59 p.m.