Another roundabout on Mendenhall Loop Road is seemingly on its way, as a one-lane interchange where the road intersects with Valley Boulevard and Mendenhall Boulevard was approved by a 4-1 vote of the Juneau Planning Commission on Tuesday night.
For drivers going toward the Mendenhall Glacier from Egan Drive the new roundabout will be the third they encounter on Mendenhall Loop Road, beyond existing roundabouts at Stephen Richards Memorial Drive and the access road to the former Floyd Dryden Middle School. The $8.5 million project is scheduled for construction between April and September of 2025.
The Juneau Assembly has until Oct 24 to modify or reject the proposed roundabout if it chooses to take up the matter.
As with Juneau’s other roundabouts, the newest one has plenty of supporters and opponents, with a primary concern of the latter being the elevated round island in the center that prevents motorists from driving straight through the intersection.
Connor Brown, an environmental impact analyst for the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, told the planning commission designers have tried to address that concern while still ensuring the island serves its preventative purpose.
“I believe the roundabout center would be shorter than the two previous roundabouts,” he said. “In terms of our specific height decisions we’re balancing between both public available concerns about visual obscuring of both pedestrians on the far side of the roundabout and oncoming cars on the far side of the roundabout, and also wishing to avoid as much as possible oncoming cars traversing over the center of the roundabout.”
Among the strongest objectors to the roundabout is Lacey Derr, a planning commission member who recused herself from the vote due to written public comments she submitted as a resident of the neighborhood for 33 years. She stated the accident history in the area during that time has been “practically nonexistent,” and “three roundabouts in succession do not make any sense, increase traffic congestion, risk pedestrian lives, and it serves no purpose in this area.”
Of particular concern to Derr is the grass/dirt island at the center of the existing roundabouts, which she stated are unkempt and an even greater hazard during winter as snow accumulates on them.
“I have personally watched people dive out of the crosswalk because drivers were not going to stop, drivers nearly miss running over children within the crosswalk, and people stuck on the center island because traffic only stopped one way,” she wrote. “This problem is substantially exacerbated in the winter with the lack of snow removal. Children, Elders, and even healthy citizens struggle to climb over the 3-6’ walls of snow created by plowing the roundabout and non-maintenance of pedestrian right of ways.”
Derr’s claim of few accidents in the area is refuted by a DOT summary of the proposed roundabout stating there has been a traffic signal at the intersection since 2004.
“Since then, there have been a series of accidents resulting in minor injuries,” the summary notes. “The purpose of this project is to improve safety for vehicles and pedestrians passing through the Mendenhall Loop Road intersection.”
While numerous written comments for and against the project were submitted to the commission before Tuesday’s meeting, the only member of the public to testify during it was Ilsa Lund, a planner with the city’s Community Development Department who said she was speaking as a resident of the area rather than an official role. She said she favors the roundabout since it includes infrastructure upgrades including additional lighting and improved drainage on Mendenhall Boulevard where ice currently builds up during winter.
“I’ve also had people not yield the right-of-way turning left on green and other safety concerns,” she said.
DOT, in its summary of the project, states the following work is planned at the intersection:
• Expanding the right-of-way in all directions, particularly in the northern direction.
• Widening the road approaching the roundabout and adding splitter islands on the approach.
• Adjusting underlying hydraulic systems/storm drains to fit the new footprint.
• Potentially repositioning or burying electrical poles and lines along part of Mendenhall Loop Road.
• Installing new lights around the roundabout footprint.
The mix of written comments portrayed two opposite views of the current traffic situation on Mendenhall Loop Road. Melissa Hartman stated she doesn’t believe the additional roundabout is needed following the closure of Floyd Dryden Middle School.
“The flow of traffic is much smoother now in that area, and no longer backs up like it used to,” she wrote. “I feel like there are other areas that the money could be used for.”
However, Brierley Ostrander stated she commutes daily through the proposed roundabout’s intersection and “I got stuck at the light this morning, waiting for only one car to turn off of Valley Blvd.”
“The roundabouts already installed on Mendenhall Loop are great, and I wouldn’t say no to more,” she wrote. “Please do the Back Loop turn next after Valley.”
In addition to Derr recusing herself because of personal interests in the project, Adam Brown, Erik Pedersen and David Epstein also recused themselves. That meant the proposed roundabout needed all five of the remaining members to vote on a notice of decision and at least four votes in favor were needed for it to pass.
Among the four members voting in favor, Nina Keller said she favors the roundabout as a generally better option, Travis Arndt, said he supports it based on DOT making a data-driven assessment, and commission chair Mandy Cole said she believes “traffic has improved 100%” since the other two roundabouts have been installed. Mathew Bell cast the other vote in favor.
The lone member to vote no, Jessalynn Rintala, said “I came in tonight fully prepared to approve this project,” but there remained too many unanswered questions for her to support it at the meeting.
The notice of decision becomes final 90 days from the date the project was submitted — which would be Oct. 24 — unless modified or disapproved by the Assembly. Had the commission failed to approve the proposal, the failed notice of recommendation and resolution for the project would have been forwarded to the Assembly for further consideration.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
