The Poulsbo City Council is expected to vote on a $555,314 contract with Parametrix to design a roundabout and pedestrian tunnel at the Johnson Road intersection along State Route 305 as part of an ongoing project to improve the Noll Road Corridor.

Some $511,601 of the Johnson Parkway/SR 305 Roundabout design contract funds are expected to be paid through WSDOT’s Connecting Washington program. The 16-year program, approved in 2015, saw most of its funding gathered from an 11.9-cent gas tax increase.

About $43,713 of the contract will be used to design a pedestrian tunnel, which will run under the highway. The tunnel will not be covered by the WSDOT funds.

According to documents from Parametrix, the roundabout will be two lanes and the tunnel will include a bike path, lighting and other architectural finishes.

During a city council meeting in July, Steve Roark, WSDOT’s assistant region administrator for multimodal development and delivery, presented the case for roundabouts along the 305 corridor between Poulsbo and Bainbridge Island.

“From an intersection control standpoint, roundabouts perform very well both from a safety standpoint and from a mobility standpoint. However, here at DOT we’re very aware that they take some adjustment. Motorists take a little time getting used to yielding and making movements through a roundabout. … The data is very clear: They clearly improve safety performance. They clearly improve mobility, and so while it may take a little bit of an adjustment, we think at the end of the day, it’s going to improve this corridor greatly.”

At the July meeting, Roark also proposed roundabouts at Totten and Masi roads. On Bainbridge, three more roundabouts are planned at Day Road, Ada’s Will Lane and NE Port Madison Road.

—Nick Twietmeyer is a reporter with Kitsap News Group. Nick can be reached at ntwietmeyer@soundpublishing.com