Roundabout Design
Roundabouts improve safety, reduce delay, improve traffic flow, and are less expensive to maintain when compared to traffic signals. Due to these benefits, Ridgefield has successfully added several roundabouts in recent years and the City plans to continue using roundabouts at intersections where appropriate in the future. Roundabouts also offer a design opportunity that traffic signals do not: landscaping of the inner circle.
Project background
In the spring of 2021, we gathered community feedback on roundabout design. Over 150 community members submitted ideas or responded to our questions sharing their preferences and priorities for roundabout design. The results were:
- We heard that respondents preferred that roundabouts be kept looking natural and filled with plants rather than lighting, art, or rock. There was a notable preference for native plants
- The top priorities for roundabout design were identified as
- Representation of the local environment (33%)
- Representation of the local community (27%)
- Use of native plants (23%)
- Low maintenance (17%).
In November 2023, the City created the Roundabout Committee, a new committee tasked with researching aesthetic designs for the central island of Ridgefield's roundabouts and making recommendations to City Council. Committee members were appointed in January 2024 and held their first meeting on Monday, March 11, 2024. Details of their projects can be found below under "Project Updates." Learn more about Roundabout Committee.
Ridgefield's Roundabouts
See below a map of Ridgefield's Existing, Under Construction, and Future Consideration roundabouts.
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56th Ave and Pioneer Canyon Drive
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This roundabout, which will be constructed and have the aesthetic design installed in 2024, is located just north of the existing roundabout at 56th Ave and Pioneer Street.
This roundabout is a piece of the transportation improvements that will be constructed by the Union Ridge Town Center developer to accommodate the upcoming development of the site, which includes a Costco Retail Warehouse. The Council selected this roundabout as the first project due to the potential to save costs by designing a center island that will be constructed by a developer rather than the city. The other two roundabouts discussed during the Council meeting on February 8, 2024, Royle Road at S Wells Drive/15th Street and Pioneer Street at 35th Avenue, have both already been constructed and any design to the center island would be at the City’s expense. The roundabout at 35th Avenue was a close runner up, due to it being the oldest roundabout of the group and its prominent position on the route from I-5 to Downtown Ridgefield.
The Council offered the following directions to the committee:
- What would Council like to see?
- Low maintenance, limited or no grass
- Work in rocks or hardscape
- Boulders or low wall or something to protect the middle of the roundabout from cars and trucks
- Be creative
- What would Council not like to see?
- Grapes
- High maintenance
- Lots of water usage
The Roundabout Committee held their first meeting on Monday, March 11 at 6:00 PM in the Columbia Assembly Room at the Ridgefield Administrative and Civic Center (RACC) to discuss their assignment. They began with an already approved design for the roundabout and made recommendations to improve the design. The committee was excited, engaged and ready to tackle this first assignment with support from the Public Works Department, Fora Landscaping, and AKS Enginnering. Their recommendations were:
- Double the diversity of native plants to support pollinators.
- Focus on low maintenance with a forest floor ideal of allowing leaves to decay naturally to assist with balancing the soil and retain moisture.
- Add a barrier for visual arrest and for the safety of maintenance crews. (i.e. Knee wall/boulders)
- Consideration for future art and/or signage possibilities.
- Inclusion of logs for insect/wildlife habitats.
- Inclusion of Vine Maples to add a midsize layer of depth.
At the City Council meeting on Thursday, March 14, the City Council was presented with these recommendations and two options for the roundabout.
Roundabout Option A
- Includes up to a 3 foot knee wall with an opportunity for signage or art.
- Plants such as: Incense Cedar, Strawberry Tree, Isanti Dogwood, Birchleaf Spirea, Oregon Grape, Fountain Grass, Coneflower, Blackeyed Susan, Pearly Everlasting, Low Oregon Grape, Sword Fern, Kinnikinneck and Oregon Sunshine.
- Logs for habitat.
Roundabout Option A - Click to view full sizeRoundabout Option B
- Includes large boulders to block vehicle entry into roundabout.
- Plants such as: Incense Cedar, Strawberry Tree, Isanti Dogwood, Birchleaf Spirea, Oregon Grape, Fountain Grass, Coneflower, Blackeyed Susan, Pearly Everlasting, Low Oregon Grape, Sword Fern, Kinnikinneck and Oregon Sunshine.
- Logs for habitat
Roundabout Option B - Click to view full sizeAfter discussion, Council voted to select Option A, with the direction to staff to evaluate the height of the wall to ensure the roundabout appears welcoming and appealing, while protecting adequately against vehicle entry.Staff refined the selection, and the final design for the new 56th Place and Pioneer Canyon Drive Roundabout is below.The roundabout at 56th Place and Pioneer Canyon Drive is one piece of the transportation improvements planned between Royle Road and Interstate 5. For more information on those improvements, visit the project page on Ridgefield Roundtable.
- What would Council like to see?
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35th Avenue and Pioneer Street
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The Roundabout Committee's next assignment is the roundabout at 35th Avenue and Pioneer Street.
The committee will first meet to discuss this roundabout on Monday, April 8 at 6:30 PM at the Ridgefield Administrative and Civic Center. The public may attend in person, or via Zoom link that will be posted to the Roundabout Committee webpage.
