The city, on Monday, will give residents a close-up look at plans for the city's next roundabout, this one aimed at calming and smoothing traffic flow at an intersection that is sometimes difficult to cross.
City Engineer Eric Shjarback has said this is an intersection that people tend to avoid, largely because R Ave. is a wide street cross at 22nd St. It's considered tough on pedestrians and dangerous for bicyclists.
Shjarback said one of the problems is that the intersections joins industrial businesses on the east side of R Ave. and residential and small commercial businesses on the west side. He hopes the roundabout will slow everyone down a bit.
The project will ultimately cost as much as $1.2-million, with $625,000 coming from the federal government, $500,000 in a Quick Response Safety Grand, and $15,000 from the state Dept. of Transportation.
The city is holding an open house at City Hall at 4 PM on Monday for the public to get a good view of the project. Then, the City Council will see a presentation on the plan during their regular meeting at 7 PM Monday night.
The City Council earlier okayed a $65,000 contract with Reichhardt & Ebe Engineering of Lynden to start design work on the roundabout. Construction is expected to start in September, with work completed by Thanksgiving.
Shjarback said one major element of the roundabout will be the ability to accommodate a variety of large truck loads, including cold and sulphur prills to the marine terminal, as well as large boats on long, lowboy trailers.