Will Morro Bay get another roundabout? That’s the plan for this busy intersection
Anyone who’s been stuck in Morro Bay High School traffic at the complicated intersection of Main Street and Highway 41 might welcome the chance to go ’round in circles instead.
That’s what the city of Morro Bay is again tentatively proposing — a roundabout for the busy intersection that links the coast with Atascadero and north-south traffic with the city.
Morro Bay’s City Council committed on Nov. 9 to the concept of paying for the city’s share of the project estimated price tag of nearly $9 million, whatever the project ultimately becomes.
The balance, currently estimated at $5.89 million, could come from state roadway monies allocated by the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG). On Jan. 5, that board is to consider continuing to reserve funds for the project.
The City Council’s approval of the concept doesn’t bind Morro Bay to a firm commitment to do the project, but according to Gregory Kowlek, Morro Bay’s public works director, the unanimous vote should give SLOCOG the assurance it wanted about the community’s seriousness.
As City Manager Scott Collins said by phone Nov. 12, “the long and short of it is the vote wasn’t necessarily saying this is THE project, just that the city is committing to funding its portion of the project, whatever that turns out to be.”
The vote wasn’t to approve the roundabout concept, he said, “only to acknowledge again that something needs to improve there and the city is willing to shell out what their share of the project would cost, whether with grant funds or out of the city’s general fund.”
Two design alternatives had been recommended after a state Intersection Control Evaluation was completed and then approved by Caltrans in 2020: a signal control (meaning stoplights) and a roundabout.
The roundabout became the preferred option, Kwolek said in his staff report for the Nov. 9 meeting, “due to its reduction of congestion, construction of pedestrian and cyclist improvements and creation of environmental benefits.”
Also, the state had required the city to consider the roundabout option first because of those environmental benefits, such as protective pedestrian and bicycle facilities for high school and visitor coastal access, pedestrian crossings on all legs of the roundabout, and two travel options for cyclists. They can travel on vehicle or pedestrian paths, navigating through the roundabout via the vehicle travel lane or on a separated ramp/shared-use path.
The council’s concept approval “will help assure that SLOCOG will keep this project’s funding in their budget,” Collins added.
SLOCOG has collected about $5 million toward the project over the past 20 years, he explained, “and the city’s put a bit of money on it, too.”
Highway 41 intersection needs improvement
The busy intersection has the longest delay time of any in Morro Bay, according to the Nov. 1 agenda item’s staff report written by Kwolek.
The current configuration of the unsignalized intersection with six approaches and exits “creates several issues,” Kwolek wrote, “including congestion, confusing traffic patterns, unfavorable pedestrian crossings, poor bicycle pathways and increased carbon emissions from cars that must stop and go several times before clearing the intersection.”
He added that “as the gateway to Morro Bay for visitors from communities to the east and northeast, the intersection leaves a deficient first impression of the city.”
The city considered a roundabout for the area in 2002 but had to abandon the planned improvement because Morro Bay simply didn’t have enough money to do the project.
Now, if SLOCOG continues to reserve up to $5.89 million for the roundabout, the option that board has favored in the past, the allocation would get the city well on its way to paying it.
The next steps after the SLOCOG decision, according to Kwolek and Collins, would be continuing the environmental evaluation, getting public input about both alternatives, completing land acquisition, historical and archaeological studies, and getting approvals from Caltrans.
“There are a lot of hoops for the project to jump through,” Collins said with a sigh. “We know it’s not going to go fast. It’s been under discussion for about 20 years already.”
For the full Nov. 9 agenda packet about the roundabout and signalization options, including sketches of each, go to page 286 of the the document at www.morro-bay.ca.us/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/5786.
