Concerns raised over new roundabouts

Two new roundabouts completed in Bonneville County last Fall are already causing some issues. Bonneville County residents have been expressing concern about the new roundabouts at Lincoln and Hitt Road and Lincoln and Ammon Road.

Drive through the roundabout at the intersection of Lincoln and Hitt Road after the sun goes down and you’ll notice it’s pretty dark. Bonneville County residents are concerned about the lack of lighting, saying it is dangerous to drive through. The Bonneville County Public Works Department says it agrees.

“We think it’s a little dangerous without the lighting and that’s why we had it planned for in the beginning,” said Bonneville County Public Works Director Lance Bates. “We do know it does need to be lit.”

Bonneville County Public Works has spoken with the contractor from the construction project and says it is sending an electrician to fix the lights as soon as possible.

“Hopefully, in the next couple of days,” Bates said. “But really, we don’t want it out there, we don’t want it dark.”

Residents are also concerned about the lack of striping on the road. Both roundabouts are supposed to be two lanes. Without the striping to guide drivers, many are turning them into one lane. Stripes were put down at the end of construction, but the weather caused them to fade away.

“It was really too cold, too wet to go down and have it stick,” Bates said. “And we’ve been searching for a time between then and now to get another coat down and it just, we haven’t had a break in the weather. As soon as we can, we will get the striping back down. And we want to evaluate what that striping does before we make it absolutely permanent and lay it.”