Two new roundabouts planned for Ishpeming

ISHPEMING — There has been talk for years now about a roundabout coming to Ishpeming.

On Tuesday, the talk took on a new meaning as plans were shown and projected costs given. Residents showed up in full force to hear the plans for the new roundabout to be built in Ishpeming, but it’s not just one roundabout but two.

The larger roundabout will be on US 41 near the ski and snowboard hall of fame and the second smaller one will connect second and third street. Although the designs include opportunity for beautification the Downtown Development Authority and MDOT wants to remind everyone that this is first and foremost a safety project.

“Injury crashes went down by almost 80% and then the fatal and real serious injury crashes where people were paralyzed went down by nearly 90% when they added roundabouts” said Roundabout Project Consultant.

This time next year this intersection will start to look a lot different as construction is scheduled to begin in May 2016 with prep work. The main roundabout will cost about 2.2 million dollars and the 3rd street connector project will cost about $100,000.