Conceptual Design & Project Plans

The City of Montpelier has obtained the services of Lamoureux and Dickinson Consulting Engineers (L and D) to prepare construction plans, specifications and a cost estimate for a roundabout at the intersection of US 2 and US 302 and related approach work. The project is being funded by VTrans through the Local Transportation Facilities (LTF) Unit. The following concepts regarding the roundabout design will be refined by L and D during the LTF design process:

• The roundabout will have an outside diameter of approximately 125 feet , which is large enough to accommodate 2 circulating lanes if necessary in the future.
• The roundabout will allow a reduction in lanes on US Route 2. Currently there are 2 eastbound lanes approaching the intersection, which would have to merge into 1 to enter the roundabout. Roadway capacity analyses indicate that 1 lane will be adequate to serve the eastbound traffic between the Pioneer Street and US Route 302 intersection. Reduction to 1 eastbound lane (Spring-Summer 2005) has been necessary for safety reasons.
• Reducing to 1 eastbound lane provides the opportunity to construct a sidewalk connection between Pioneer Street and US Route 302. Sidewalks will be included surrounding the roundabout with pedestrian crossings marked across all approaches.
• The approaches on US Route 2 and 302 will have long channeling islands with advance warning signs to slow traffic before it enters the roundabout.
• There will be "keep right" signs installed on the approach island as well as "yield" signs on both sides of the approaches at the roundabout.
• The design will require relocating at least 3 utility poles and will require installing new luminaries for lighting the intersection.
• The center of the roundabout will be a landscaped, circular island. Around the island will be a textured truck apron with a mountable curb to be used by tractor-trailer trucks as they maneuver through the roundabout.
• The travel lane inside the roundabout will be approximately 16 feet wide.
• Four-foot shoulders will be added to the approaching and departing traffic lanes terminating at bike ramps onto the sidewalk for those bicyclists who opt to ride around the outside rather than travel through the roundabout. Bicyclists traveling inside the roundabout must enter the travel lane and act as a vehicle on the circulating roadway.
• The access to the former Grossman's property will be relocated and will become a fourth leg of the new roundabout.