Hayden council backs roundabout for Hayden and Hutter, adopts design into master plan

Hayden City Council voted on Nov. 12, 2025 to move forward with a roundabout design for the Hayden and Hutter intersection and to adopt that design into the city master plan.

Melissa Cleveland, project manager for Welch Comer Engineers, told council that the intersection—now two-way stop controlled with Hutter stopping—has seen four injury crashes in the last four years and needs an improvement. She summarized an alternatives analysis comparing a signalized intersection and a roundabout across level of service, delay, queue lengths, cost, safety, right-of-way needs, corridor consistency, utility conflicts, mobility and maintenance.

"So our recommendation is that the roundabout outperforms the signal on most of the criteria," Cleveland said, citing lower delay and shorter queues in both morning and evening peak hours and evidence from a nearby roundabout with mostly minor crashes.

Cleveland noted design parameters: the signal option would require left-turn lanes on all legs and additional right-turn lanes for northbound and westbound approaches, while the roundabout alternative would require two westbound lanes on Hayden. She said the city standard is to provide a level of service no worse than D at the end of the 20-year design horizon (2046). For the signal alternative, Cleveland said the longest queue could be about 660 feet—more than 30 cars—at westbound Hayden.

On operational considerations, Cleveland warned that signal equipment lead times can be 12 months or longer and emphasized that signals rely on power and require more frequent maintenance, while roundabouts do not need power and offer landscaping and gateway opportunities. She also acknowledged accessibility concerns and said the design would likely include RRFB pedestrian aids.

Councilmembers who spoke in favor cited safety and resilience during power outages. One councilmember described witnessing vehicles run a red light and said that concern reinforces choosing a roundabout.

City staff (Dulce) told council that the current action has no fiscal impact to the city because design was already budgeted, and that the city is seeking contributions from developers and Post Falls Highway District for a portion of construction costs. Cleveland said next steps include preparing final construction drawings, right-of-way acquisition and meeting a 2026 deadline for project milestones.

The motion to approve the roundabout design and adopt it into the master plan passed on a roll-call vote.

The council did not adopt final construction documents tonight; staff were directed to proceed with final design work and right-of-way actions required for construction.