Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Public Works Department

TO:	Charles Soules, Public Works Director
FROM:	Mark Thiel, Assistant Public Works Director
CC:	Tarik Khatib, Chief of Police Ernie Shaw, Interim Director of Parks and Recreation
DATE:	March 18, 2014
RE:	March of Dimes Walk – Downtown

Please place this item on the April 8, 2014 City Commission meeting agenda.

Melissa Sower has applied for a temporary use of public right-of-way permit for The March of Dimes Walk on Saturday, April 26, 2014; benefitting the March of Dimes. The walk would begin at approximately 10:00 a.m. on Massachusetts Street adjacent to South Park, with walkers staging on the street beginning at about 9:50 a.m. Participants would walk north in the northbound lane of Massachusetts Street to 8^th Street and continue northbound utilizing public sidewalks to 6^th Street and return back to South Park utilizing the public sidewalk.

Staff is seeking City Commission approval of this event permit because the event will involve a rolling closure of the northbound lane of Massachusetts Street downtown from about 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Parking on Massachusetts St would not be prohibited, although vehicles parked on the east side of Massachusetts St would not be able to leave for a few minutes as walkers pass by. (See attached traffic management plan – prepared by the Lawrence Police Department). In addition, Parks and Recreation, Public Works, Fire / Medical, Lawrence Transit, DLI and the Chamber all have reviewed this permit with no issues.

The Police Department has coordinated traffic control on this route for several previous events and has developed a plan that requires little to no police resources for traffic control.

ACTION:       Approve a temporary use of public right-of-way, event permit for use of Massachusetts, including the rolling closure of the northbound lane of Massachusetts Street downtown from 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., on Saturday, April 26, 2014 for the March of Dimes Walk.