Lawrence City discusses flat streets budget, plans $1M match for community crossing grant

Lawrence City Council members and Department of Public Works staff reviewed the streets portion of the proposed fiscal-year budget and outlined plans to apply this month for a Community Crossing matching grant that would pair $1 million in state funding with a $1 million local match.

The discussion focused on how staff reallocated existing funds across line items rather than seeking an increase in the overall streets appropriation. Streets staff told the council that “for the community crossing matching grant, we're going to apply for that application through this month. We, it's a million dollar grant that we match, so we would match a million.” The application listed three target subdivisions: Pebblebrook, Kingsborough and English Oak — all concrete streets, which staff noted typically cost about twice as much to repair or replace as asphalt streets.

City staff…