About a dozen people attended an information session Thursday night about the new roundabout being built near Bayfield Middle School.
The roundabout, at the intersection of East Oak, Lakeside and Mountainview drives, will be built this summer before the new Bayfield Intermediate School opens across the street from BMS.
The roundabout will be about the same size as the one at County Road 501 and Bayfield Center Drive.
Other improvements to the roads in the area include making the stop at East Oak and North Cedar drive a four-way stop, explained Marty Zwisler, the school district's construction manager. A raised crosswalk will connect the two schools and will also serve as a speed bump to try to slow down traffic. There also will be turn lanes, sidewalks and bike paths on Cedar, he added.
The roundabout should help keep traffic moving from Mountain View onto Oak as parents pick up and drop off children at school, Zwisler added. Studies of traffic in the area showed that the intersection is failing when drivers heading south on Mountain View try to turn left on Oak to get to the school and traffic starts to stack up.
During construction, the intersection will be closed to all traffic, with a temporary road constructed to maintain access for the homes on Lakeside and Westview drives.
Someday, another street off of U.S. Highway 160 extending north could be constructed near the new school.
When the intermediate school property was annexed into town limits, the school district granted right-of-way easements to the town that provides a route for the potential future construction of a new road.
"When and if that road, or another road taking a different route is ever built, is in the hands of the town and area developers," Zwisler said. The school district would like to see a connecting road built, and it will likely eventually happen, he added.
A copy of the plans for the roundabout is on the town's website at www.bayfieldgov.org under Hot Topics.
