It would only cost about an additional $16,000 to change the traffic control device at Scottsdale Road and Dynamite Boulevard from a roundabout to a traffic signal, according to a memo from interim City Manager Greg Caton to the city council dated March 11. But the memo doesn’t appear to tell the whole story.
The memo doesn’t take into account the amount of grant money the city would have to pay back if the plans were changed from a roundabout, the costs to redesign the intersection and it doesn’t account for the increased safety that city staff say roundabouts offer.
However, the city council has already decided to make it a signalized intersection without a formal vote, as required by open meeting laws, according to city engineer Alison Tymkiew.
