LJWorld.com / City Commission hopefuls back trafficway

Archive for Thursday, February 17, 2005

Bracciano, Greib say proposed road should leave wetlands undisturbed

February 17, 2005

A pair of city commission candidates both voiced support Wednesday to restart the South Lawrence Trafficway project by looking for a way to build the road outside the Haskell-Baker Wetlands.

In a pair of Journal-World online chats, candidates Tom Bracciano and George Grieb both said the community needed to get the bypass project moving forward again. But both said the road project needed to avoid the Haskell-Baker Wetlands.

"As soon as the plan met with opposition from the various interest groups, with good reason, the SLT should have been rerouted around the Baker Wetlands," said Grieb, the owner of Lawrence-based Lynn Electric.

Bracciano, a school district administrator, also said he thought a good plan could be developed that would leave the wetlands undisturbed.

"It will take a new mindset and require people to come back to the table, but I think it will work and must be pursued," Bracciano said.

The two candidates took questions on several other issues:

Roundabouts. Bracciano, a former traffic safety commission member, said he supported the concept of roundabouts but thought the city was "overusing" the devices. Grieb said he thought the city was spending too much money on roundabout construction in existing neighborhoods. He also has concerns about school buses and fire trucks navigating the devices.
Library expansion. Grieb said he believed the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vt., needed some improvements, but he said the project needed to be more modest in scope than some have envisioned.

Transcript of chat with Tom Bracciano, city commission candidate

video

Transcript of chat with George Grieb, city commission candidate

"Instead of spending $25 million, let's spend $10 million," Grieb said. "Our city debt continues to increase."

Bracciano said he was a supporter of expanding the existing library or building a new facility.

"The public library was built when I was a small child growing up in Lawrence," Bracciano said. "It was too small and crowded way before I reached high school age."

Smoking ban. Bracciano said he supported the ban but wished city commissioners would have implemented it by having a nonbinding public referendum on the issue.

Grieb said if voters want to change the smoking ban, they should gather the necessary signatures to hold a public referendum on the issue.