Roundabout plans progress as town asks for support and settles on design

Project slated to begin in 2020

by Olivia Lueckemeyer

The Town Council’s proposal to install a roundabout at Highway 135 and Red Lady Avenue is still in its infancy, but plans are progressing as a conceptual design has been established and a formal request for county support has been made.

Town planner Michael Yerman appeared before Gunnison County commissioners on May 10 to update the board on the progress of the proposal and to report on cost. According to Yerman, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) assisted the town staff in the creation of two potential designs, both of which included a new entrance to the school. As they proceeded through the peer review with CDOT, an oblong oval shape emerged, consisting of five legs and an offset of Red Lady Avenue on both sides of the roundabout.

A tighter circle shape was considered; however, impeding utility lines ruled out this traditional configuration, Yerman explained.

“The issue is really utilities,” he said. “All of town’s utilities and the mountain’s utilities come right into the intersection, especially electric and fiber, forcing the design up.”

The council’s number one priority was to make sure that pedestrian movement around the intersection was improved, especially where children would be crossing. Sidewalks were realigned within the design to ensure that children are crossing only once at Seventh Street.

“There will also be a median refuge, so there will be only one point of crossing and then you’d be able to look and go across the other leg of traffic,” Yerman said.

The ability to slow vehicles down and remind visitors that they have arrived into town is a key goal of the roundabout. If it were up to the council, Yerman explained, the speed limit would be set at 15 mph; however, the state controls the speed limit along that section of the highway, and therefore it will remain at 25 mph.

According to Yerman, the roundabout project will cost about $2.5 million and will have significant ramifications on the town’s transportation budget and property tax mill levy. Because of this, the town is seeking funding through State Improvement Project (STIP) funds from CDOT and a gradual increase of the property tax mill over the next five years.

“The earliest we can get on the prioritization list for STIP funds is 2020, so we are looking at a 2020 to 2022 time frame, with one and half years dedicated to design,” Yerman said.

The town’s mill levy was originally set by voters at 16 mills, but as property value has changed over the years, the mill levy is usually set between 7.5 and 8. In order to raise the $600,000 to $700,000 necessary for a 25 percent match against CDOT funds, the town will need to increase the mill levy by about 1 mill over the next five years to construct the roundabout.

Yerman was careful to point out that the design of the roundabout is still “very much conceptual,” and will probably be edited based on plowing practices and lessons learned from other roundabouts throughout the state. As the project progresses, the town will come before the county and CDOT again to discuss how the roundabout will be maintained.

“Those issues are certainly on the forefront of the thought process and we will continue to address those,” Yerman said.

The town staff plans to bring the roundabout proposal to the Transportation Planning Region (TPR) at an upcoming meeting in hopes of it being considered within the upcoming four-year budget cycle. Until then, Yerman plans to try to garner support from all of the municipalities.

“Working collaboratively with the STIP funds is really important,” he said. “We will kind of have to wait to see how the TPR plays out, but we certainly ask for your support as this project goes forward. “

Though no official action was taken at the meeting, commissioners Paula Swenson and Jonathan Houck voiced their approval for the proposal.

“It looks like a really good project,” Swenson said.