Lawrence staff outline 2026–2030 capital improvement plan, flag $470 million in unfunded needs

City staff presented the proposed 2026–2030 capital improvement plan (CIP) to the Connected City Advisory Board on June 16, outlining funded projects, funding sources and a long unfunded list the city will ask the commission to prioritize.

Melinda Harger, assistant director for MSO, told the advisory board that the CIP is a five‑year planning tool and that a project must generally cost $100,000 or more to be included. "If the to be a CIP project, the project must cost a 100,000 or more," Harger said, and she described the scoring and peer‑review process used to prioritize projects.

The proposed plan includes a mix of bond‑funded and cash projects and shows a substantial list of unfunded requests. Harger said departments and public submit requests and an internal CIP committee scores and recommends projects; peer reviewers include asset management, budgeting staff and regulatory leads such as Evan (ADA administrator) and Trevor (water/wastewater staff). She said the city received about $140 million in new project requests during the latest open call and that the total unfunded need in the draft CIP is roughly $470 million.

Why it matters: the advisory discussion stressed trade‑offs between ongoing street maintenance and one‑time capital projects. A recurring choice for the commission will be whether to preserve street maintenance funding levels or shift dollars to discrete projects such as the 20th/Seventh Street bridge repair,…