By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
Hays will soon be home to another traffic roundabout.
In addition to the four located in the north Vine Street corridor, a fifth roundabout will be built at 27th and Canterbury Drive on the east side of town.
Backed-up traffic at the intersection's four-way stop has long been an inconvenience, especially during peak driving hours before 8 a.m., when employee shifts change at Hays Medical Center, and in the afternoons when classes let out at Hays High School.
City Commissioner Shaun Musil suggested a mini-roundabout back in 2018 but the commission took no action then.
Now, with a new high school to be built on east 13th and the current high school to be remodeled as the middle school, studies show traffic on Canterbury Drive will increase.
There is also more housing development underway and projected for the area east of 22nd and Canterbury, adding to the number of regular drivers on Canterbury.
Musil asked that the roundabout idea be reviewed again.
Engineers for Hays USD 489 have conducted a traffic impact study predicting a 10% increase in traffic at 27th and Canterbury and an increase in wait times/queue lengths of 25%.
The study concludes that a roundabout at 27th and Canterbury would improve traffic flow by reducing delays at the intersection.
Commissioners also heard more about a "lane diet" for the Canterbury corridor - reducing Canterbury from four lanes to three lanes along between 13th and 27th - and how it would enhance optimal operation of the traffic light at the 22nd Street intersection.
"The lane diet allows for the proper function of the light at 22nd by allowing simultaneous protected left turns from Canterbury to both eastbound and westbound 22nd Street, and it would not change the configuration at 13th Street other than better align the northbound lane across the intersection," explained John Braun, city project manager.
Following a 45-minute discussion Thursday and at an previous work session , commissioners unanimously voted to approve the roundabout at 27th and Canterbury as well as the restriping of Canterbury from four lanes to three lanes.
"I'm very much in favor of the traffic roundabout at 27th and Canterbury," said Sandy Jacobs, commissioner. She also favored the lane diet.
Vice-Mayor Musil also favored the roundabout but is a little concerned a reduction to three lanes may back up traffic south of the 22nd Street intersection.
"It is just paint, though, and later if we find three's not working the way we thought, we can repaint it back to four lanes," Musil pointed out.
Lane reductions from a four-lane road to a three-lane road were installed along 13th Street in 2013 and Hall Street in 2016 and have proven benefits, according to Braun.
Cost of the lane re-striping is estimated at approximately $70,000 and would be done by a contractor.
The roundabout reconfiguration will start this summer after school is out and be done in-house. Total cost of the project is estimated at $90,000.
"With our discussion about Canterbury, I hope the community will grant us patience and give it a try," said Commissioner Alaina Cunningham.