Public comments nix roundabout for intersection

Public comments about a proposal to install a roundabout at the intersection of Montana highways 35 and 206 near Woody’s swayed state officials enough that a traffic signal will instead be located there.

Shane Stack, a preconstruction engineer in the Missoula office of the Montana Department of Transportation, said public comments did not support a roundabout, so state officials instead have opted to install a three-way signal at the “T” intersection.

The traffic signal won’t be in place until summer 2013, Stack said.

Transportation department officials had said the intersection needed some sort of traffic control based on the number of crashes there.

Whenever the department evaluates a spot for traffic control, signal lights and roundabouts are both evaluated, Stack said.