Midway Main Street Traffic Congestion

Lights or Roundabouts?

by Robin M Johnson

Note: Information in this article originally appeared on the facebook group page Midway UT Messages & Milestones over two months ago.

When a member of the group Midway UT Messages and Milestones noticed 'Blue Stakes' spraying a lot of lines on Main Street in late February she posted, “I am saddened by Midway seeing its first two traffic light controlled intersections.” Further down the post she said the traffic lights were planned for Center Street and Main, and also River Road and Main. “My question is if traffic has increased to that point, why isn’t Wasatch County requiring emissions testing?”

Several members responded to the post expressing their desire for roundabouts at both locations instead of traffic lights. One said seeing traffic lights will be weird, but those two intersections definitely need some control. Another agreed traffic is a huge problem and wished for pretty roundabouts over traffic lights, but nobody asked. 

This post led to an interview with Mayor Colleen Bonner who did ask the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) about roundabouts for Midway. First she said Main Street is not a city road, it is a state road. Since it falls under the jurisdiction of UDOT and they are not required to inform the city council of their plans, Bonner said she was not aware UDOT had plans for traffic lights in Midway.

When Bonner first heard the state was planning on putting in a traffic light it was the same day UDOT was holding a meeting. She immediately got in her car and went down to UDOT’s meeting, taking them off guard. She discovered UDOT had conducted its own traffic studies. Several times in the past Midway has requested UDOT conduct traffic studies such as when Midway City partnered with UDOT for the Main Street Beautification project over ten years ago. However, UDOT is not required to inform a city when it runs its own traffic studies. Bonner asked if they didn’t think that, just as a courtesy and for a local perspective, it would be nice to let the city know their plans.

UDOT told Bonner that the requirements for a traffic light in a small, rural city are different than they are for big cities. The number of trips that came back from the study based on Midway’s current road sizes and its current population met UDOT's requirements and merit installation of traffic lights at both intersections.

Bonner next asked if they had conducted a study for roundabouts in both locations. According to the mayor UDOT said they had not because they would not pay for roundabouts. Bonner said the majority of citizens in Midway responding to public surveys prefer roundabouts and asked if they would consider doing a roundabout study based on citizen preferrences. She said if the intersections qualified, Midway might want to try and raise the funds to pay for them.

UDOT agreed to conduct the roundabout studies. Unfortunately when UDOT's study was completed neither intersection meets today's criteria for roundabouts. UDOT now requires more space for a roundabout than when they were first proposed along with the Midway Main Street Beautification project under former mayor, Bill Probst. The intersections are both too small for today's standards. Another factor is the Hardy Foundation which owns five of the eight corners at both intersections is unwilling to sell any of their property for roundabouts. The Hardy Foundation now owns property on three corners at the Center Street intersection and two corners at the River Road intersection.

UDOT plans to install traffic lights at both intersections. Mayor Bonner met with UDOT in two on site meetings held the first week in March to discuss the scope of both projects. Bonner said two different design companies have won bids, one to do River Road and Main, the other Center Street and Main. In March UDOT was at the very beginning of the process. The traffic studies were completed. UDOT is currently in the design phase. Once the design is approved UDOT will run a cost analysis. Following cost approval installation will begin.

In March Bonner said with all that needs to be accomplished the traffic lights will probably come to Midway in the summer of 2018. Bonner said UDOT will choose the type of poles and lights to install, Midway has no say in the design. Midway City plans to pay to paint the light poles to match Main Street light poles.

One month ago, Wes Johnson, city engineer, said in the planning commission’s April 19 regular meeting the traffic light at Center Street and Main should be installed this summer. The River Road and Main traffic light may be installed next summer. UDOT did not plan to widen Main Street from 300 East to 400 East until Johnson asked them to in order to accommodate a wider intersection for center turn lanes. UDOT is looking for additional funding to cover the extra cost to widen the block and complete the project. 

ROUND ABOUT BACKGROUND INFORMATION

City leaders have conducted surveys  of Midway citizens at least every five years in conjunction with the state required revision of the general plan. Each time the majority of residents say they prefer roundabouts to traffic lights, although there are residents who strongly oppose roundabouts and prefer traffic lights.

Roundabouts have been discussed in numerous city meetings since Bill Probst was mayor. They have also been studied for feasibility several times, the first being for the Midway Main Street project. The scope of that project included Center Street and Main, but in the original discussions reconfiguration of Main Street was proposed from 200 West to as far as 700 East, then eventually cut back to 500 East which would also have included River Road and Main. 

Traffic Studies for both intersections were conducted. Both intersections qualified for roundabouts at that time. Main Street and the south side of Center Street are state roads under the jurisdiction of UDOT. Midway City has no jurisdiction over state roads. River Road is a city road.

Prior to the Main Street Beautification project, UDOT and Midway City did a cost analysis and discovered their combined funding only allowed for a five block project from 200 West to 300 East, so the River Road roundabout was postponed. Since UDOT’s roundabout qualifications were smaller then, a roundabout could have been installed at Center Street provided Midway City agreed to pick up the full cost. UDOT was not willing to pay because traffic numbers compared to population did not warrant roundabouts at either intersection.

Midway City planned to pay for a roundabout on Center Street. However, at that time the Hardy Foundation purchased one piece of property at both intersections specifically to block roundabouts on Midway’s Main Street. They declined selling the portion of their property needed for the roundabout to the city. Since then they have added three more properties associated with the intersections, and several other properties on Main Street with the intent to keep them the way they are, and to keep Midway rural. Some of their properties are on the Utah State Historical registry. 

Note: Forthcoming article based on interview with UDOT regarding the process for updating and maintaining state roads. Feel free to post questions to ask UDOT.