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Committee prefers mini roundabout for Country Club–Oakmont intersection after feasibility study
Summary
City staff presented a 15% feasibility study and told the Steve Blackstaff Pedestrian Advisory Committee that a mini roundabout is the preferred alternative to address sight-line problems and future traffic from nearby planned development; formal design work will continue and construction is not expected until 2027.
The Steve Blackstaff Pedestrian Advisory Committee heard city staff on the Oakmont Country Club intersection and was told a mini roundabout is the preferred concept to address sight-line problems and future traffic.
City staff presented the results of a 15% feasibility study showing several alternatives — do-nothing with sight-line improvements, a four-way stop, and a mini roundabout — and recommended the mini roundabout as the preferred direction. “At the end of the day, the direction that we like was the roundabout,” said David Nixon, who identified himself as working with Capital Improvements Project Management, during the presentation.
The recommendation rests on safety and capacity concerns. Staff cited irregular alignment and a change in elevation that create blind spots at the Country Club–Oakmont intersection, and said the mini roundabout performed better in modeling of potential future traffic than other options. Staff noted the design must account for commercial vehicle turning needs and school buses.
Officials also discussed trail and pedestrian connectivity at the site. Staff said the project would stub in connections for the Country Club foottrail so the pedestrian/bicycle network can tie into future work, and noted that parts of the wider corridor would be sized to accommodate truck traffic.
The committee and staff discussed alternatives and precedents. Staff showed local examples — Arrowhead West (a true mini roundabout with roughly a 70-foot diameter) and other larger roundabouts — to convey scale and truck-traversable design. Committee members raised concerns about pedestrian visibility and whether raised or painted features would be used for islands and splitter islands; staff replied those details are not yet decided.
The presentation also referenced long-range planning in the area. Staff said the 2045 regional plan shows the adjacent “Section 20” area inside the city urban boundary as future residential, and that if that state-owned land develops it could increase traffic demand at the intersection.
No formal vote or ordinance was taken at the meeting. Staff described the current outcome as a preferred concept from a low-level feasibility study and said the next steps are design development with consultant WSP and internal city review. Staff said construction has been pushed back and is not expected until 2027.
Why it matters: the intersection is on a corridor used by motorists, cyclists and pedestrians near a golf course and driving range, and the selected concept affects basic geometry, sight lines and how pedestrian facilities will connect through the intersection going forward. Committee members urged prioritizing pedestrian safety features, lighting and accessible crossings as part of later design phases.
Staff asked the committee to provide input as the design advances and said they expect to return with refined plans in subsequent meetings. The committee did not take a formal vote; staff will carry forward the mini roundabout concept into further design work and interdepartmental review.
