Logan City officials: Roundabout to replace four-way stop on 600 E
Construction of a roundabout on 600 E. has raised complaints and concerns among Logan residents, while city officials say the roundabout will expedite traffic flow.
Mark Nielsen, the public works director for Logan City, said since the intersection of 600 E. and 500 N. is so busy, there is no perfect solution to easing traffic. However, he said a roundabout should help traffic flow more smoothly.
The bulk of the roundabout’s construction will take place during the summer. It should start May 8 and wrapping up in the middle of August, before USU students return for the fall semester, said Jed Al-Imari, Logan City’s street maintenance division manager.
The road re-opened on Friday. Though it was scheduled to reopen earlier in the week, Al-Imari said this was not feasible due to the rain.
“There were a number of reasons for the delay, such as finding water lines we didn’t even know were there,” Nielsen said.
The initial construction on 600 E. was to ensure proper waterline placement in preparation for the main project. For this reason, some residents had their water temporarily shut off, Al-Imari said.
Many Logan residents, particularly students who live on 600 E., voiced complaints about the construction.
Sophomore Lacee Krebs lives in Nottingham Apartments on 600 E. She said the construction has been a hassle. During the week of March 6, the city of Logan informed Krebs and her three roommates that the city would be shutting off their water the following day between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to access water lines for construction. Krebs said they planned their water usage accordingly.
Krebs’s roommate, Amy Ellis, said despite this notification, the household’s water was shut off at 9 p.m. that night while Ellis was in the middle of shampooing her hair in the shower. She did not realize until she arrived home from work the next day that she had left the shower faucet in the “on” position. Ellis and her roommates then discovered the water running again, flooding the bathroom and two bedrooms.
Krebs said she thinks a roundabout on 600 E. is unnecessary and would inconvenience drivers and residents.
Regan Jorgensen and her husband Collin Jorgensen, a Utah State University student, live on 500 E. They said the construction has been annoying, as 500 E. is the official detour for 600 E. during construction.
“We always have cars on 500 E. now because that’s the new 600 E.,” Regan said.
The Jorgensens also said having the detour on 500 E. is a problem since there is no traffic light on the street like there is on 600 E. As a result, traffic is significantly slower. With additional vehicles on the road, the Jorgensens said turning onto 400 N. from 500 E. takes five to ten minutes, which makes traveling to campus “a pain.”
Nielsen said the public works department will collaborate with the Cache Valley Transit District and the Aggie Shuttle to ensure buses access to 600 E. during construction.
@melodyj300
Photo by Megan Albrechtsen
There really needs to be some type of educating or training available for those folks who don’t quite ‘get’ how a roundabout works. Many times I have seen someone just pulled up with their blinker on thinking they are turning left in front of all the folks zooming around towards them. I have seen this at the 200 East one, the 1800 north one, the Providence one. Some people just don’t know what to do.
I too was in the shower when they shut off my water. I think this was 8ish in the morning on Friday 3/17. We didn’t get any warning whatsoever, and our water didn’t come back on until that night. We were pretty upset. I also agree that more people need to be trained in the use of roundabouts. They didn’t talk about them much in my driver’s ed. class.
I live on 6th east just north of the soon-to-be roundabout, and I have long thought that a roundabout would be a huge improvement. The construction will definitely be an annoyance, but most of my neighbors agree that a roundabout would do wonders for traffic flow and save students from pesky rolling-stop tickets.
This article is very one-sided and undeservedly negative.