By Emily Younker
eyounker@joplinglobe.com
CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — City officials are looking at installing roundabouts at five intersections that they say are some of the most heavily traveled in Carl Junction.
A $3,000 agreement up for City Council approval tonight asks Tri-State Engineering Inc., of Joplin, to prepare conceptual plans and probable costs of roundabouts at the following intersections:
n Fir Road and Lone Elm Drive.
n Fir Road and Briarbrook Drive.
n Fir Road and Joplin Street.
n Walnut Street (Route Z) and Route JJ.
n Pennell and North Roney streets.
City Administrator Steve Lawver said the appeal of roundabouts versus traffic signals is their cost. They usually are less expensive to install and maintain than signals, he said.
“A roundabout is something we can maintain ourselves,” he said. “It’s not a problem; we’ve got a street department to take care of that.”
Lawver also said signals typically are a way to control traffic capacity, which doesn’t pertain to Carl Junction.
“Ours is not a capacity problem; it’s a moving-the-traffic problem,” he said. “If a roundabout will allow us to move the traffic efficiently, then it’s a better solution.”
Lawver said the targeted intersections are heavily traveled, particularly during the morning and afternoon rush hours. The Fir Road intersections at Lone Elm Drive and Briarbrook Drive are the main exits out of those subdivisions, he said.
Lawver said the city also would like to address traffic congestion around the schools.
“We have two or three rear-end accidents a year out there during the school year (with vehicles) trying to turn in to the high school, and you’re going to get the same style of accident with a traffic signal because you’re still stopping the traffic,” he said. “A roundabout might be a better way to move traffic through that intersection without having to stop traffic.”
In April 2008, voters approved a $365,000 bond issue for street projects, including improvement of Briarbrook Drive. Lawver said those funds could be used for the roundabouts “or any other transportation needs for the city.”
Councilman Walter Hayes, chairman of the city’s long-range planning committee, could not be reached for comment Monday.
On his personal blog, “Carl Junction Happenings,” Hayes wrote in September that the committee has been charged with creating a comprehensive plan that will anticipate what the city might be like in 20 years. The plan is expected to address what kind of infrastructure Carl Junction might need by prioritizing projects and estimating their costs for budget-planning purposes.
Council members during their meeting tonight are expected to formally approve the contract with Tri-State. Other proposals for the engineering work came from Anderson Engineering Inc., of Joplin, for $7,000, and Allgeier, Martin and Associates Inc., of Joplin, for $8,500.
