One roundabout is being built, a second needs repairs. Here’s what Lacey drivers should know
Two area roundabout projects in Lacey will slow traffic this summer, according to city officials.
The first is the new roundabout under construction at Britton Parkway Northeast at Carpenter Road Northeast. A section of Britton Parkway west of the roundabout has been closed and will remain that way until July 12, Public Works Director Scott Egger told Lacey City Council this past week.
Why was that section closed?
“The main reason for this is turning movements,” Egger said. The contractor can’t get all their equipment in there, including labor, material and supplies, and keep that section of road open at the same time, he said.
In light of the closure, here’s how east and west traffic will be handled on Britton Parkway, according to Lacey spokesman Ty Keltner.
Traffic headed west will be detoured south onto Carpenter Road, while traffic headed east will be detoured north onto the same road.
The city does not want trucks in the area, so it is recommending that they choose an entirely different route, he said.
“We always are very sympathetic to the inconveniences we cause for these improvements,” Public Works Director Egger said. “But, you know, we do look at all options before, you know, implementing these type of closures, and sometimes there’s just no way around it.”
The council this past week also awarded a $634,000 contract to Active Construction of Puyallup for work on a busy existing roundabout at Pacific Avenue Southeast at Homann Drive, and to mark some city streets with “sharrows,” the road markers for bicyclists.
The work is expected to begin next month and take 25 days. Active will re-pave around the roundabout and rebuild Homann Drive between the roundabout and 13th Avenue Southeast, the street near the Lacey post office.
Lacey Mayor Andy Ryder was concerned that the construction at Pacific Avenue and Homann Drive will re-direct traffic into Lacey’s historic neighborhood.
“If you start detouring them through the old historic neighborhood, they’re going to come and kill me,” said Ryder about the residents in the area. His comment got a chuckle out of the council, but Ryder wasn’t laughing.
“You think it’s funny? I don’t think it’s funny.”
Public works will do what it can, Egger said.
“We’ll come up with the least impactful detours that we can, but I don’t know exactly what those detours are at this moment,” he said.
The “sharrows” will be placed on Golf Club Road from I-5 to 22nd Avenue Southeast, and from the Chehalis Western Trail to Carpenter Road via 21st Avenue Southeast, 22nd Avenue Southeast, Lilac Street Southeast and Carpenter Road, according to city information.
