MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Attendees at the Middletown Area Town Hall meeting on Thursday night received an update on a plan to build a roundabout north of town.
MATH Board Chair Fletcher Thornton added to the agenda the update from Jaime Matteoli, Caltrans' project manager on the roundabout, which is proposed to be built at the intersection of Highway 29 and Hartmann Road near Hidden Valley Lake.
Caltrans intends to hold a drop-in open house on the project from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 22, at Middletown High School, 20932 Big Canyon Road.
The open house will give community members a chance to come in, see displays and a model of the roundabout, and talk to Caltrans staff, Matteoli said.
He said Caltrans wants to hear the community's concerns about the roundabout, which will be the third built by Caltrans in Lake County. Its first two roundabout projects, now completed, are located at the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff in Nice and at the intersection of Highway 20 and Highway 29 at Upper Lake.
Matteoli said the project is meant to reduce the number – and severity – of collisions at the intersection.
In 2011, Caltrans installed a three-way stop with signage and flashing lights at the intersection, which had a fatality and crash rate several times above the state average.
From Jan. 1, 2009, to Dec. 31, 2013, there were 13 collisions associated with the intersection, eight of them broadsides, according to data Matteoli shared with the group. That equated to a collision rate of 3.6 times the statewide average.
Matteoli said the stop signs – considered a temporary safety measure – eliminated injury collisions at the site but generated traffic impacts.
He said the roundabout's expected benefits include a 74-percent reduction in total collisions and 87-percent reduction in injury collisions.
“So you really have a safety benefit from the project,” he said.
During peak hours, the roundabout should reduce traffic delays from 44 seconds to 30 seconds, according to Matteoli.
In addition, he said the roundabout will be designed for industry standard trucks.
Matteoli said the project is on schedule for construction to begin in 2018. The current construction cost estimate is $6 million.
Asked about the design of the middle of the structure itself and how it might be decorated, Matteoli said Caltrans wants to work with the community on the look.
When asked if the design overall will change, he said no, but the open house will allow people to come and speak to the project team and get their concerns and questions addressed.
Caltrans' project page on the roundabout – www.dot.ca.gov/dist1/d1projects/hartmann – will feature the displays that will be used at the meeting for those who cannot attend.
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Caltrans project manager gives update on Highway 29 and Hartmann Road roundabout plan
- Elizabeth Larson
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