Lawrence celebrates 2025 National Public Works Week

This week, the City of Lawrence is celebrating National Public Works Week by shining a spotlight on the incredible team that keeps Lawrence moving, flowing, growing—and glowing!

From street repairs to stormwater, from clean water to compost piles, the dedicated staff in our Municipal Services & Operations (MSO) Department are the behind-the-scenes heroes of Lawrence. You may not always see them—but you experience their impact every single day.

Here’s just a glimpse of what they do to serve our community:

💧 Water You Grateful For?

• Over 4 billion gallons of drinking water treated in 2023—enough to fill 6,200 Olympic-sized swimming pools
• 343 miles of water lines keep that water flowing
• Over 34,000 meters, 12,000 valves, and 3,600 fire hydrants across the city

💦 Wastewater Warriors

• Two treatment plants handle 4.1 billion gallons annually
• 465 miles of sanitary sewer mains and 10,267 manholes keep things moving underground

♻️ Sustainability in Action

• Collected 5,000+ tons of recyclables and 8,500 tons of yard waste in 2024
• Diverted 6,150+ tons of compost from the landfill

🚦 Safe Streets & Smart Signals

• Maintained 885 lane miles of roadways
• Managed 105 traffic signals and 17,874 traffic signs
• Patched an average of 14,500 potholes a year—yes, we feel that one too!

And that’s just the tip of the traffic cone. MSO also oversees bike planning, airport operations, ADA accessibility, levee maintenance, solid waste collection, hazardous waste, sidewalk repairs, fleet services, facility maintenance, and so much more.

Public Works Week Coloring Pages & Treasure Hunt
This year, we’re inviting the youngest members of our community to join in the celebration! To help kids (and adults, too) better understand how much MSO touches every part of daily life, we’ve created special MSO-themed coloring pages and a fun Treasure Hunt activity.

The Treasure Hunt encourages kids to explore their surroundings and check off items like traffic signals, crosswalks, water infrastructure, and more—all the things our MSO team manages to keep Lawrence running smoothly. It’s a fun way to see just how often you encounter MSO’s important work throughout your day!

You can check out the coloring pages and Treasure Hunt by clicking here or by visiting lawrenceks.org/construction and clicking on the blue banner. Tag the City of Lawrence on Facebook or Instagram and share your coloring creations with us!

This National Public Works Week, we’re celebrating the incredible work our MSO crews do 365 days a year to make Lawrence a safer, cleaner, and more connected place to live.

To our entire MSO team—Thank you for your service! You truly keep Lawrence running.

 

 

Media Contact: City Communications, citycommunications@lawrenceks.org

About the City of Lawrence
The City of Lawrence supports an unmistakably vibrant community with innovative, equitable, transparent and responsible local government. Together, we are creating a community where everyone can enjoy life and feel at home.