The City of Lawrence is planning a roundabout at the intersection of Post Road and Otis Avenue in the Fort Ben area.

The city’s Board of Public Works approved an agreement Oct. 12 with American Structurepoint to conduct design work on the roundabout, which City Engineer Sri Venugopalan said likely wouldn’t be built until 2025.

Venugopalan said the intersection now is a four-way stop.

“But there’s a lot of people that didn’t stop and over the years there’s been some crashes,” he said. “So, we’ve been looking into, ‘Hey, what can we do?’ And we just thought it’d be a good location to put a small roundabout there, maybe have art by local artists in the future once we have a roundabout.”

He added that there is plenty of room for a roundabout in that intersection.

Venugopalan said the contract is split into two phases, with the first phase focusing on a survey, preliminary scoping and preliminary design. The second phase will be the actual design, he said.

Venugopalan said the city would look into funding options, such as grants, once the first phase is complete and provides a better idea of overall costs.

Also during the Oct. 12 meeting, the board approved the purchase of 2023 Chevrolet Tahoes for the Lawrence Police Department and installation of police equipment. The overall cost will be about $567,000. Funds for that purchase were previously appropriated by the Lawrence Common Council.

During the board’s previous meeting on Sept. 28, members approved the purchase of a $300,700 Lenco BearCat vehicle for LPD.

LPD Chief Curtis Bigsbee told the board that his department received a $150,000 Department of Homeland Security grant for the BearCat, which will become its primary SWAT vehicle.

The next regular Lawrence Board of Public Works meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. Oct. 26 in the Public Assembly Room at Lawrence Government Center.