GRANITE FALLS — The first of three roundabouts being built as part of a new bypass road around the city is now open to traffic.
The roundabout is on Highway 92, where it is met by the new road at the west end of town. The highway on this stretch was closed for more than a month starting in late March while the roundabout was built. Traffic was detoured to Crooked Mile Road.
The road itself is not yet open. Snohomish County began work on the 2.1-mile, $28.7 million alternate route began last year and completion is targeted for this fall, weather permitting.
Two other roundabouts are being built along the route, one at the new road’s intersection with Burn Road and the other where it meets Jordan Road and Engebretsen Road.
The new roundabout includes a revised design fitted with wide, raised brick areas surrounding the center circle and skirting the entrances to the roundabout. Drivers of large trucks may steer their wheels onto these raised areas, if necessary, to get their rigs through the circle.
The county changed its design early this year after some truckers said the first roundabout under construction, at Burn Road, was clearly too small for some of their trucks.
A final cost for the changes should be available at the end of summer when the roundabouts are finished, engineer Owen Carter said.
The cost of the roundabout includes a landscaped center circle with three flagpoles and a concrete pad where the city can put a “Welcome to Granite Falls” sign.
Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439, sheets@heraldnet.com.
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