By a vote of 5-1, the Yelm City Council approved an amendment in a professional services agreement with Parametrix for the state Route 507 and Bald Hill Southeast roundabout, along with the Morris Road Southeast and Bald Hill roundabouts.
The amendment to the professional services agreement with Parametrix is for the final design, preparation, plans and estimates for the two roundabouts planned at state Route 507 and Bald Hill Road Southeast, and Morris Road Southeast and Bald Hill Road Southeast. The agreement with Parametrix is not to exceed the amount of $1,206,048, according to Yelm’s Projects and Programs Manager Brad Chatwood.
“Everybody knows the background on this. This is all funded 100% by WSDOT. Right now, we have everything –— the preliminary plans are vetted and ready to go,” Chatwood said during a Yelm City Council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 28. “WSDOT has finally given us their seal of approval and we can now move forward with the final design.”
Councilor Brian Hess noted that the Starbucks at the intersection of state Route 507 and Bald Hill Road Southeast features a brick wall area, and he asked Chatwood if that was going to be removed for construction of the roundabouts.
“It’s really hard to tell until we really get into design and start talking about right of way and what we’re going to need for storm runoff,” Chatwood said. “There’s a lot of questions still up in the air. There’s lots of room, and we don’t think we’re going to have to touch it. But that’s still up in the air.”
Hess would like to see the city and those involved in the project preserve that brick wall area, and Chatwood agreed. The projects and programs manager said the city would do “everything to make it happen.”
Councilor Tracey Wood, the lone “no” vote on the contract amendment, voiced his displeasure with the decision to pursue these specific roundabout plans.
“I’m sure that staff as well as the council knows my perspective on this. I’m just curious. It seems like, and maybe I missed something, but did we just go ahead and decide we’re going with this particular plan? I thought we were still in discussions on this,” Wood said.
Mayor Joe DePinto was the first to respond. He said there have been a lot of discussions regarding the roundabout design between WSDOT and City of Yelm representation.
“I know Tracey that you were a fan of the five-legged idea,” Chatwood said. “With that plan, it turns into a lot of right-of-way acquisition. Not only that, the roundabout doesn’t function as well. Running that through traffic studies, it just doesn’t work. Along with the right-of-way, we would also have to relocate two homes.”
The two homes, which are along the “Mill Road spur,” according to Chatwood and Wood, were repurposed off of the Vail Camp from 100 years ago. Wood said he doesn’t believe those houses are on a foundation, adding he sees those homes as a non-issue.
“I’ve seen the studies and I’m failing to see where this situation, common-sense wise, doesn’t hold up. It seems like we’re creating a whole lot of unnecessary congestion that was initially created by that intersection being changed to what it presently is and away from what it is prior. It just seemed like there was a lot more opportunity to figure out a way to do this without going this route,” Wood said. “If DOT wants to go this way, that’s great. But they handed the project off to us.”
Wood added that there’s such a thing as “spending money to avoid future problems,” and that he anticipates “unforeseen congestion” that he believes the City of Yelm is going to be creating with the roundabout projects.
“Really, no. We weren’t getting that push from DOT,” Chatwood said. “This is what the study showed was our best option. Money is a big part of that. If we go that route, there’s a lot more acquisition that has to be done and acquisition takes dollars.”
