Three roundabouts that are a part of the design for the entrance from I-69 to Second Street should be complete by the end of 2025, said the project manager with Ragle, Inc., the company completing the construction.
Jason Ragle, the project manager, told the Henderson City Commission Tuesday afternoon that crews will start work on the roundabout closest to North Middle School this summer, and try to get it in a “functioning manner” this year.
Crews this summer will also work on finishing up the Highway 2084 approach that intersects with Second Street just south of the roundabout, he said.
Then, in the summer of 2025, crews will focus on the other two roundabouts, one on the west side of the bridge and the other on the east side, Ragle said, with the goal of getting them complete by the end of the year.
Much of the work is “focused highly on taking advantage of those summer months, both this year and next year, when we’re not impacting the kids and school traffic,” Ragle said.
Throughout both summers, the road on which the construction is occurring will be reduced to a single lane in both directions, he said.
Previously in the presentation, Brian Aldridge, who is with Stantec Consultant Services and is the deputy design manager for the project, described some of the aesthetic enhancements of the roundabouts.
In center of the roundabout closest to NMS, the city of Henderson gateway sign will be placed, he said. It will consist of a 14-foot brick tower with a horizontal sign extending out midway up the tower. On the sign, “City of Henderson” will be written, and on the opposite side, the slogan, “Discover Your Nature” will be written.
Inside the middle roundabout, there will be three flagpoles with uplighting, like the flagpoles on the riverfront, Aldridge said.
And within the roundabout closest to Henderson County High School, crews will construct a concrete pad so that a statue can be placed there. A recent group of graduates of the Henderson Leadership Initiative has created a plan to place a 15-foot colonel on that pad.
Additionally, Aldridge said the design team consulted with Andy Rideout, the UK Extension Agent for Horticulture, who helped develop the landscape plan for the roundabouts, which include perennials and annuals.
There will also be an 8-foot-wide sidewalk on the south side of the street, Aldridge said. And the streetlights in the area will be similar to those coming out of downtown on Second street, he said.
At the end of Aldridge’s presentation, Commissioner Austin Vowels asked what benefits roundabouts have over a traditional four-way intersection with a stoplight.
Aldridge said that with roundabouts, traffic is safer and more efficient.
“Safety is really the biggest benefit,” Aldridge said, adding that there are 40%-60% reduction in crashes, especially severe crashes.
“Roundabouts do a tremendous job of regulating speeds,” Aldridge said.