Roundabout back before Central HS board Tuesday

The Central High School Board has the controversial roundabout intersection on Highway 83 back on the agenda of its Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday evening.

The board is expected to hear an update on the building project and then hear a presentation and have discussion regarding the roundabout. The board also is expected to consider fees from engineering firm Nielsen, Matsen and Barber for roundabout design.

This is a preliminary plan for how a roundabout could look at the entrance/exit to Central High School. (Click for a larger view)

Part of the school’s new construction project, which is adding several athletic facilities to the campus, includes an entrance/exit onto Highway 83 south of Highway 50. The school initially budgeted about $175,000 for constructing a relatively inexpensive T intersection, presumably with a traffic signal. But state Department of Transportation officials said if the school constructed that sort of intersection, the state would not authorize a signal and the school district would be responsible for renovating the Highway 50 and 83/75 intersection in the future. The school could avoid that obligation by building a roundabout intersection, which the state favors, for an estimated $500,000. The Highway 50 and 83/75 intersection work is expected to be even more expensive.

Meanwhile, last I heard, Salem resident Chris Skrzynecki was set to meet with a DOT official today about the situation. Skrzynecki has pledged to try to help the school district seek a less expensive alternative to building the roundabout or having to rebuild the Highway 50 and 83/75 intersection.

The Committee of the Whole meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., but could start early if the meetings before it end ahead of schedule.

Interested in learning more about roundabouts in Wisconsin? The DOT offers this video (which was brought to my attention by Salem resident Chris Gustafson). Roundabout info from the DOT in other forms available here too.