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Board approves $579,500 design contract for Liberty Park–Mallory Lane intersection; debate continues over roundabouts
Summary
The board approved a $579,500 contract with Rummel, Klepper & Call LLP for final design of intersection improvements at Liberty Park and Mallory Lane. Members debated whether roundabouts should be studied instead of signal tweaks; staff said roundabouts likely perform better but retrofit costs and utilities make them expensive to implement.
The Board of Mayor and Aldermen on March 2025 approved City contract 2025-0035 with Rummel, Klepper & Call LLP for the final design of Liberty Park and Mallory Lane intersection improvements at a contract cost of $579,500.
The motion to approve passed 7–1. The roll-call vote recorded Alderman Blanton as the lone no vote; Aldermen Barnhill, Caesar, Peterson, Burger, Brown, Vice Mayor Potts and Alderman Baggett voted yes.
During discussion earlier in the meeting — while members were considering the Cool Springs redevelopment — several aldermen raised safety and capacity concerns on Mallory Lane and nearby intersections. Councilmembers asked whether roundabouts would be a better long-term solution than more turn lanes and signal adjustments. Paul (city staff) said that while roundabouts “are always going to outperform a typical intersection for the most part,” retrofitting roundabouts in a built corridor would likely be “extremely expensive” because of utilities and right-of-way impacts and would require survey work and consultant analysis. He said any such evaluation would need a due-diligence study to assess cost, feasibility and traffic operations.
Alderman Baggett and others urged the board to study roundabouts as part of future evaluations, noting the corridor is heavily congested and may be a candidate for federal funding as one of the Safe Streets top-five projects. Alderman Peterson said he did not see a way to place a roundabout at the specific locations under consideration without major expense and supported moving the project forward so it would replace surface parking and add uses beyond paved lots. Several aldermen recommended a study similar to prior intersection evaluations at Liberty and Mallory to review roundabout feasibility and cost.
The contract with Rummel, Klepper & Call LLP was approved with a 7–1 vote and authorizes final design work for the Liberty Park and Mallory Lane improvements. Staff said the design work will evaluate options and produce construction-ready drawings; any construction would require separate board approval and funding allocations.
