Monday, November 30,1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 5
Controversy surrounds construction of trafficway through area wetlands
Continued from page 1A
The Ross' involvement has been a tiring experience for their family. Many evenings, Thomasine and her husband have attended meetings and protests when they could have been spending time with their two sons.
"Before filing the lawsuit, we discussed how it would change and affect our lives," Thomasine said. "We knew that this was just the beginning."
Her eyes light up, however, as she explains the role she believes she is filling by representing the 42 different tribes at Haskell.
"I've had a lot of people thank me for fighting the city on putting the road through," Thomasine said. "It just gets tiring because it's really hard to explain spirituality and our cultural ways, the things we we've grown up with. We've survived since the beginning of the white man, and we aren't going to change our culture now."
She said that the eastern leg of the Trafficway would affect those who use the Haskell Medicine Wheel and the sweat lodges on the Wetlands. They serve as sacred places for worship in relation to nature and require quiet surroundings.
"Some tribes draw their strength and their spirituality from the Medicine Wheel and sweat lodges," Thomasine said. "I think we need to keep this opportunity available to students. You put in a trafficway and you take away from that opportunity. We will keep fighting this until it's over."
six-and-a-half years later in 1998, Pasley has finally received a break.
The people who hired John Pasley told him that the job of South Lawrence Trafficway project manager would only last one, maybe two years. Six and a half years later in 1908 Pasley
"The position required a lot more work that I originally anticipated." Pasley said recently. "For example, the design plans had to come out of county hands, and state specifications came into play and the plans had to be reworked. Then state and federal money had to be brought in. There were just a lot of different aspects to the project that I hadn't even considered."
Pasley admitted that he had underestimated the reactions of the townpeople. City meetings where Haskell supporters ripped apart his plans and ideas were not something that Pasley had anticipated. Pasley said that because there are more people in Lawrence, there were more hearings where questions were asked.
"You have to listen to the people because there are a lot of folks who are experts on construction and the environment." he said.
Pasley said that it had been much more difficult to build a road because of Lawrence's proactive population. He said that he understood Haskell students, alumni and supporters' position. He also has his own goal: getting the road built.
Until construction resumes, Pasley will be on retainer with the county. Now, he only spends about 10-20 hours a week.
month on the project. Until then, Pasley will be spending his time as the deputy project manager on his next project: the $2 billion, 630-acre Kansas International Speedway in Kansas City, in Wyandotte County.
Bev Worster spends her days buried in legal paperwork.
Last year, she quit her job as a teacher at Lawrence High School and focused her time on the South Lawrence Trafficway.
Worster is president of the Douglas County Preservation Alliance, whose mission is to preserve built and natural environments. She began studying the developments in the South Lawrence Trafficway case in 1992.
At the time, Haskell students and faculty had just dedicated the Haskell Medicine Wheel.
"I had been following the case because I was concerned with the future of the wetlands," Worter said. "I decided to volunteer my time because I thought that I could do something to help out."
She began raising funds, attending meetings at the county offices and at Haskell, and voicing her views at speeches and public rallies.
In 1996, Worster ran for Douglas County Commissioner and against the South Lawrence Trafficway. She lost, but still continues to support the opposition to the Trafficway.
"I think that some people are trying to turn this into an economic issue, but when it really comes down to it, it's a moral issue," Worster said. "I plan to be involved in varying extents until the whole thing is resolved. If it is ever settled, there will be a gap in my life."
In the fall of 1996, Bruce Plenk found himself representing the plaintiffs in the South Lawrence Traffic lawsuit when the attorney previously representing the case took another job.
Now he is the main lawyer fighting the continuation of the Trafficoav. For free.
Plenk is a lawyer in private practice and a visiting professor at Washburn University.
"This case shows the importance of working to preserve the few places that are still around and haven't been taken over by developers." Plenk said. "The last thing this town needs is another freeway."
The suit essentially asks that the Trafficway bypass the Haskell-Baker wetlands.
Plenk prefers continuing the Trafficway through farm property rather than through the Wetlands.
"This is a no-brainer." Plenk said. "I like farms, but the difference is that there are a lot of farms, and there are very few wetlands."
Plenk is unsure how long the case will last.
"It could be days, maybe months before we know what our next step will be," Plenk said. "My obligation is to represent my clients and this case, and I will stick to that until it's all over."
After afternoons in the courtroom, Plenk has often paid visits to the Wetlands. He hopes to continue doing that for many years to come.
"I wanted to become a part of this case because I saw how pretty the Wetlands are," Plenk said. "It is just such a pretty and quiet place, and that will all be destroyed if they continue the Trafficway."
In August of 1994, Jason Daniels read about beaver dam destruction in the wake of the South Lawrence Trafficway construction. That affected Daniels so
Thomasine Ross, a 1977 Haskell graduate and a local land owner, has used her determination and love of the land to lead a successful lawsuit against the South Lawrence Trafficway.
much that he chose to sign on as a plaintiff in the South Lawrence Trafficway case.
Daniels said the reason he chose to become a plaintiff in the case was because he thought he knew more about it than most students at the University. After reading Traffic story stories in the Kansan and the Lawrence-journal World, Daniels became frustrated and upset.
Daniels, a Colby fifth-year senior, became involved with KU Environs as a freshman, attending information meetings at Haskell about the case as a representative from the University.
"I saw a whole room full of people just pour their hearts out at one of the meetings." Daniels said. "The representatives from the county didn't even blink in response."
On a daily basis, Daniels researches material for the case, by studying documents and attending meetings.
He said he thought it would be nice if the County would recommend a route south of the Wakarua River that would not interfere with the Wetlands. Daniels said he planned to see the case through to the end.
"I used to think that it would be best if they didn't build the Trafficway at all," Daniels said. "But now, they just made a mess of everything, and I think it would be best if they recommended a route that did not go through the Wetlands."
On Nov. 17, three judges in Denver ruled that construction would remain halted until a supplementary environmental impact statement and a noise study were completed by Douglas County and the Kansas Department of Transportation.
This would require the county and the department to meet with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Highway Administration to develop alternate routes for the Trafficway.
They would be required to explain what environmental and cultural impact the Trafficway would have.
But for the time being, Douglas County has chosen not to continue work on the Trafficway. The $11 million may be spent on another county project.
The weeds that have appeared in the cracks of the bridge crossing the 3400 block of Iowa Street will cease their growth as northern winds begin to chill Kansas forests and leave frost on wetlands vegetation.
1930- Hare and Hare Landscape produces a map for the Lawrence planning commission that shows an early concept of a "boulevard" looping south around the city.
THE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS
1969 National Park Service identifies the Haskell-Baker Wetlands as a National Natural Landmark.
1969- A trafficway is proposed by Douglas County Planning Office to be aligned on 31st Street.
1971- The Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs grants Douglas County a 24-acre easement through Haskell land for the construction of 31st Street.
1985- County Commission has three heated public hearings about possible alignments for the South Lawrence Trafficway (SLT).
1994-May
1990- County residents vote 13,679 to 10,815 supporting $4 million in bonds for the southern trafficway connecting Kansas Highway 10 to the east and the Kansas turnpike to the northwest.
1986- Then-Haskell President Gerald Gipp opposes connecting the SLT and downtown Lawrence by extending Massachusetts Street through the Haskell campus.
Federal Highway Administration(PHWA) announces that a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) will be conducted in order to address Haskell's cultural, spiritual, academic and developmental concerns.
December
-Haskell responds with "All Things are Connected" which is submitted to FHwA.
-Twelve design changes are offered by Douglas county to the Haskell Board of Regents, which are unanimously opposed under heavy influence from students with spiritual concerns.
-Ground is broken for the west end of the SLT by Lawrence Chamber of Commerce
1995.
A 900-page draft of the SEIS is released that reviews possible alignments of the Trafficway on 31st Street, 35th Street and 38th Street. No preferred alignment is chosen.
-Haskell presents a second report to FHWA on the wetlands and ethnohistory of the Wakarausa River Valley
1996- Western leg of SLT is opened to the public.
Douglas County Commissioners vote 2:1 for the 31st Street alignment. The "two yes" votes come from one Commissioner who is vice president of a real estate firm, and another who owns 200 acres south of the Wakuawa River between Haskell Avenue and Louisiana Street.
1997- Wetlands Preservation Organization files a lawsuit against FHwA for illegal withdrawal from oversight of SLT construction and against County Commissioners and Kansas Secretary of Transportation for noncompliance in proceeding with plans to construct SLT on 31st Street
1998- Federal court orders construction to cease on SLT until completion of SEIS and noise study.
-Construction of SLT is discontinued for the time being.
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