Streets and Sidewalks Committee Recommends $120,000 Study for Roundabout
A project originally thought to cost $4.2 Million is now set to cost $6 to $7 Million
On Monday, City Council’s Streets and Sidewalks Committee met to discuss spending $120,000 of local dollars to perform a state-mandated study on the city’s proposed roundabout at the West Main Street, Experiment Farm/South Stanfield Road intersection. Initially, the city's design engineer recommended a roundabout for the intersection, and the city council approved legislation to submit a grant application for federal funds to support this design. The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) initially agreed with this recommendation based on data, design renderings, and simulations.
However, recent changes in ODOT's standards, potentially influenced by new federal guidelines, have led to a request for additional studies. These changes relate to "mega roundabouts" with two through lanes, which are more complex than originally planned. As a result, the city needs to conduct further analysis to either confirm or modify the original roundabout design.
The committee was tasked with considering an amendment to the contract with American Structurepoint, the original design firm, to conduct the required additional studies. The proposed amendment would cost up to $120,000 and is expected to take 3-6 months, including a public meeting in late spring.
Financial considerations play a significant role in the project's planning. The city has already budgeted $500,000 for the design, but the additional $120,000 for the new study is not included in this budget. The project has been awarded approximately $2.5 million in federal funds for construction, with the total project cost estimated at $6-7 Million. The remaining funds will come from city funds and potentially tax increment financing (TIF) district funds.
This was an important detail that was brought foward in the meeting. The last time this project was brought forward in front of council, which was in September 2023, the cost for the new roundabout was estimated to be $4.2 Million. In other words, over the span of 16 months, the cost of the project increased by at least $1.8 Million, or 43%. Even in the time of high inflation, this is an absolutely staggering amount.
It should be noted in the same study presented to City Council, the option of installing new signals was put at $3.6 Million. It would be interesting to see how much this cost has gone up. And while that cost has gone up, the community’s biggest fear should be that the roundabout, which was $600,000 more expensive than new signals, could easily be at least $2 Million more expensive.
This publication took an in-depth look of the study:
In remarks to the committee, At-Large Council Member Todd Severt wanted to know what the real reason for the project was, alluding to the fact that the intersection was not dangerous enough to warrant additional safety dollars from the State of Ohio. The City’s Top Bureaucrat, in classic bureaucratic fashion, finally stated that the purpose of the project was more for cutting down on traffic congestion.
Yet, when one review’s American Structurepoint’s recommendation report from September 2023, the proposed roundabout really isn’t going to make much of a difference. According to the report, the traffic level of service, is currently graded a “C” for both the afternoon and morning rush hours. Not great, but not unbearable. New signals would maintain the “C” level and a roundabout would yield an “A” level of service in the morning drive, but would remain a “C” for the afternoon drive.
If the City Council agrees with the recommendation of the Streets and Sidewalks Committee and decided to spend local taxpayer dollars of $120,000 for the new intersection study, it will undoubtedly look at new traffic counts and new levels of service. It will be interesting to see how the data has changed and what recommendations would be put foward.
But more critically, City Council needs to ask itself, in the face of runaway costs of this project, is it worth doing and how exactly will this be paid for?
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This whole project is getting out of control while public support is minimal. How about a no cost solution of leaving the intersection as is. Are new signals worth the cost and are better than the existing signals? I think not. This is another example of a solution seeking a problem. It’s should be called a cluster instead of an intersection. Mr. Severt’s comments were right on target.
Out of curiosity, how LONG would a construction of this size take? And what happens to all the traffic currently running through that intersection in the meantime?
Main Street isn't even finished. We had 2 years of a block of it being closed because of fighting with the preservation society. I just want to be able to drive to work smoothly. Is that too much to ask? *cry*