A roundabout planned to be built at the intersection of Seabeck Highway NW and NW Holly Road could be completed by December.

The T intersection currently has a flashing yellow light to alert motorists to its presence.

“This intersection has a fair amount of accidents especially at dark,” said Tina Nelson with Kitsap County public works.

Nelson spoke about the project at a recent Central Kitsap Community Council meeting.

Before deciding to install a roundabout at the intersection the county considered alternatives such as a three-way stop or installing a traffic signal.

“And a roundabout made the most sense so a roundabout it will be,” Nelson said.

A one-mile stretch of highway from Calamity Lane to Gross Road near the intersection will also be widened with paved shoulders. Culverts will also be replaced. By the time the project is complete, that one-mile stretch of road will look completely new, Nelson said.

“Rural roundabouts are not as common as urban roundabouts,” Nelson said. But people have become more familiar with them.

There are already a few other roundabouts in the vicinity including at the intersection of NW Anderson Hill Road and Frontier Place and at the intersection of Newberry Hill Road and Chico Way.

The Seabeck Highway roundabout will be 140 feet in diameter with a single lane. For comparison, the Newberry-Chico roundabout is 150 feet in diameter.

The Seabeck Highway roundabout will also feature a street light for safety.

“One of the reasons you choose a roundabout many times is safety,” Nelson said. “Head-on collisions in roundabouts are minimal. Fender benders in roundabouts happen, but the severity of the accidents is what’s important. If you run a red light, bad things happen. If you just get a little too fast with a roundabout usually you slide off the road yourself. You don’t typically hit somebody else and cause severe damage.”

Cost of the project is nearly $3 million. Construction will begin in May, 2015, and end in December.