COLUMBIA − The city of Columbia and Missouri Department of Transportation are moving forward with plans for a new roundabout at West Route K and West Old Plank Road in an attempt to make the route safer for both drivers and pedestrians.
The proposed roundabout will be located at the intersection of West Route K and West Old Plank Road between two gas stations. Construction is set to begin in the spring of 2025 and take about three to four months.
Allison Anderson, engineering supervisor for Columbia Public Works, said the existing intersection is skewed. She said the addition of the roundabout will make it easier for drivers to navigate.
“It will kind of pull that [the road] over so you’re not hitting Route K at such a weird angle, and it will kind of line up the other roads that are there too for the subdivisions,” Anderson said.
Under its current design, drivers struggle to see in both directions when they’re pulling out on Old Plank Road, according to Anderson. She said the project’s main goal is to fix this and make the area safer, as it will also force drivers to slow down.
“That’s where you have a lot of your vehicle collisions, is from pulling out into traffic and stuff like that,” Anderson said.
Additionally, Anderson said the project will make travel safer for pedestrians, as it will include crosswalks which are not there now. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, there were two crashes in the area just in December of 2022 alone.
According to previous KOMU 8 reporting, the project is estimated to cost about $1,790,700 in total. The city of Columbia said it would split the cost with MoDOT through the MoDOT’s Cost Share Partnership Funding program.
Route K is currently a MoDOT-maintained road, while Old Plank Road is maintained by the city.
The project has received mixed reviews from residents in the area since it was initially proposed in March. Some who live in the surrounding neighborhoods worry the construction will significantly impact their commute.
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Lexi Lewis, who has lived in the area for the past three years, said it will be inconvenient.
“I go that way for school,” Lewis said. “So I don’t know what I’m going to do when they start doing the construction.”
Despite this delay, Lewis and others in the area said it will be worth it in the long run.
“I think it will be nice once it’s done because it’ll make that turn easier,” Lewis said. “It is a traffic-y area and it’s hard to turn onto Route K sometimes because traffic comes in both directions.”
According to Anderson, crews will carry out construction on the roundabout in phases, so the entire intersection will not be closed all at once.
“We’re going to try to keep the intersection open for the most part,” Anderson said. “We’ll have to close that leg of the roundabout, so you might have to do a detour during that time.”
Anderson said drivers in the area will still have access to the two neighboring gas stations, as well as the surrounding subdivisions.
On Monday night, several community members also spoke out about the roundabout at the Columbia City Council meeting. Many residents discussed making the roundabout pedestrian-friendly. Two residents in particular requested the design include crosswalks that have buttons or lights for pedestrians to push when crossing.
Sarah Johnson, who works for a woman that lives in the area, said she believes if the roundabout is pedestrian-friendly, it could help many in the area.
“This is a really dangerous area for people who live in this area,” Johnson said. “Whenever I go there a lot, it’s on Saturday and Sunday mornings and there are a lot of bicyclists heading down [Route] K to get to Cooper’s [Landing], or wherever they might be going.”