Salmonberry staying together in latest roundabout design

By Elisha Meyer Port Orchard Independent • October 5, 2023 1:30 am
City of Port Orchard courtesy photo A look at the four-leg option for a roundabout at Bethel and Salmonberry roads approved as the alternative design.
City of Port Orchard courtesy photo A look at the four-leg option for a roundabout at Bethel and Salmonberry roads approved as the alternative design.

The Port Orchard City Council has identified an alternative design for its planned roundabout at Bethel and Salmonberry roads, voting to reduce the size to a one-lane design while maintaining four-leg access favored by the community.

The design was presented before the council Sept. 26 as well as the results of a survey put before residents earlier in the month asking its opinion on two single-lane alternative designs: a four-leg roundabout maintaining current connections or a three-leg roundabout that would sever connectivity for commuters on the west part of Salmonberry.

The need for a new design comes as inflated costs drove up the prices of the Phase 1 portion of the project on Bethel Road, which included a two-lane roundabout at Salmonberry and a one-lane roundabout at Blueberry Road. What was originally estimated at $12 million in 2018 would now cost over $17 million.

The four-leg option was proposed as the more expensive, bringing costs to an estimated $13.5 million compared to $12.5 million for the three-leg design. However, Patrick Holm of SCJ Alliance stated that an “overwhelming majority” of survey respondents disapproved of the three-leg roundabout as that would disconnect Salmonberry.

A survey question asking if disconnecting Salmonberry would be acceptable saw 54.5% saying it would be “completely unacceptable.” The rest of those who answered were split between “somewhat acceptable” and “acceptable.”

Additionally, of the 139 open-ended responses submitted, 32% presented concerns that both residents and emergency services would be negatively impacted by the closing off of a portion of Salmonberry.

Holm said, “The four-leg, single-lane roundabout seemed to make the most sense as far as not closing off Salmonberry, which was not popular in the survey. It’s providing the safety that people are looking for, and it also provides the traffic flow that people said was important to them as well.”

The council approved the alternative, members citing the feedback gained from the survey as a major contributor to the decision. Councilman Fred Chang said, “When we saw the concepts, we didn’t like all of them equally, but we needed to hear from the people in that area.”