According to a model conducted by the city and state, traffic buildups in Yelm and McKenna will be resolved once a series of roundabouts are installed in the future.
Public Works Director Cody Colt presented the data and model during a Tuesday, Nov. 5, Yelm City Council study session, explaining the results.
Screenshots of traffic buildups and potential results of the additional roundabouts can be viewed in the Yelm City Council’s agenda packet from the Nov. 5 meeting. This can be found online on ci.yelm.wa.us.
“We are currently in the right-of-way phase for our roundabout [at state Route 507 and Bald Hill], meaning we’re purchasing, working with different organizations that own the properties around that to secure that location to build this roundabout,” Colt said. “We’re also in the final process of getting the Washington state Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to approve what our plan is.
“We’re not paying for the big one. WSDOT is,” Colt added. “We’re doing their project for them and accelerating it. In turn, because this roundabout makes this intersection fail, we can ask them to do the improvements at [Bald Hill and Morris Road], and it sounds like they’re going to. We’re partnering with them to do that.”
He said that WSDOT needs to approve storm swells and other aspects of the project before the city can move forward in the process. Behind the main roundabout at 507 and Bald Hill Road, an additional roundabout will be constructed at Vail Road in the future, too. Colt said this is purely for safety reasons.
“If you’ve been at this [Bald Hill and 507] intersection, there’s been times where it’s taken me seven or eight cycles to get through the light [going toward McKenna], and vice versa [coming into Yelm],” Colt said. “This is the finished product of what it will be. It will start as a one lane, probably for a few years, and then turn into a two lane down the road. When you don’t have enough traffic going through a roundabout, people tend to swerve in and out of the lanes and it causes issues, so you limit the access to the roundabout until it’s needed to have a second lane.”
Colt added that, by 2028, the single-lane roundabout at Bald Hill and 507 should expand into two lanes as population throughout Yelm continues to grow. He said re-striping the roundabout, which WSDOT would do, comes with minimal cost.
“We’re on a good timeline for this. The plan is we’ll plan construction for late 2025 or early 2026. The other two roundabouts are on the same timeline, and these should be complete in sequence with the Yelm Bypass,” Colt said. “These might be done shortly before the loop is complete. Yes, you’re going to have a headache for three or four months while they’re being done, but it can be phased in a way where it isn’t blocking lanes.”
Additionally, Colt said a majority of the construction could occur throughout the late evening hours in order for traffic impacts to be minimal.
“It’s an exciting project. Everything is moving forward. The reason right-of-way acquisition is so important is because [the roundabout] goes through some of the nearing properties,” Colt said. “There’s a lot of take that has to happen, and we need to do it in a way that’s responsible as a government entity.”
Once the road improvements are made, Colt said that additional businesses will be able to go into the empty lot across the street from the KFC/Taco Bell, AutoZone area. In the past, proposals for that property have included businesses like Chipotle or car washes.
“It becomes way more attractive for these parcels to develop in a way that can put more burden on the streets because the streets can handle it,” he said. “I think we’ll get some new choices that Yelm doesn’t have yet offered to it. I think people will be excited about the new proposal they’re coming through with right now. This [roundabout] will make it happen. They can build there without having to build a $2 million or $4 million roundabout.”
