Bayfield's second roundabout is being planned for the intersection of Mountain View, Oak and Lakeside drives near Bayfield Middle School.
Bayfield school board members looked at the plans for the roundabout on Tuesday. A session for the public to look at drawings and ask questions will be held on Feb. 8 at the Pine River Senior Center in Bayfield.
The intersection "is already near failing," with traffic stacking up at the beginning and end of the school day at Bayfield Middle School, said Marty Zwisler, the district's building representative for the new Bayfield Intermediate School. "It's a bizarre intersection. We've all been through it, and it's weird."
Bayfield Intermediate School is being constructed on Oak Drive and will bring more traffic to the neighborhood, he added. The intermediate school, for grades three through five, is set to open at the start of the school year in August. To get the roundabout built before then, the district and Town of Bayfield plan to shut down the intersection. That will block access to homes on Lakeside and nearby Westview Drive. To allow access, the district will build a temporary extension from Westview through school district property that will connect to Wolverine Drive to the south. After construction, the road will be closed with emergency gates that firefighters and police can use if needed.
To accommodate the intersection, the roundabout will be raised about three to five feet above the current grade and moved slightly to the north and east so it is on school property, Zwisler said. The private property on the adjoining three corners will have minimal impacts, other than some temporary construction work and a sloping grade from the roundabout, which will be replanted after construction is over.
One nearby landowner, Tim Middleton, asked if the crosswalk being planned to cross Oak Drive could be moved to the east. Zwisler said he would take the suggestion to the traffic engineer. The crosswalk will be raised six inches and will serve as "a significant speed bump" for the busy street, Zwisler added. Zwisler said he hopes to bring the final agreements with landowners to one of the board's February meetings.
