New Castle considers adding a roundabout

NEW CASTLE, Colorado — “Will it go round in circles?” is not just a refrain from the 1970s hit song by the late Billy Preston — it’s also a question facing the town of New Castle.

Plans are being discussed whether or not to put another roundabout at the intersection of Highway 6 and Castle Valley Boulevard, but it could be several years away, according to town manager Andy Barton.

“We are contemplating a roundabout, but I think it’s probably a couple of years off,” he said. “The Department of Transportation rates various intersections on a scale from A to E with A being the least amount of traffic. This intersection is currently a B.”

The town installed two roundabouts on Castle Valley Boulevard near the Castle Valley Ranch subdivision several years ago.

Right now, the intersection that comes directly off Interstate 70 is directed by four-way stop signs. “The problem is that sometimes it backs up traffic onto the freeway ramps,” Barton said.

The town is looking at a couple of different options to handle the problem — either put in a roundabout or install a traffic signal. But it all depends on the need.

“Right now we’ve only had six housing starts since June,” Barton said. “Things have cooled off.

Down the road, the town of Silt is currently building a roundabout at Ninth and Main streets. Beginning on Sept. 15, traffic patterns through the intersection have been reconfigured with Ninth Street closed in the block from Home Avenue to Highway 6 (Main Street) until about Oct. 6, according to Martinez Western Constructors, the contractor on the project.

“(The closure) will affect people coming down Ninth and going towards Main Street,” said Tim Laudick, project manager for Martinez Western. “Instead, they can take Home Avenue to Eighth Street and get back on Main.”

Construction of Silt’s roundabout began in early July and is expected to be completed by early October.

The city of Rifle is also building two roundabouts at the Airport Road intersection and the Interstate 70 interchange and is using Martinez Western Constructors. Construction of the roundabouts began in May and is expected to be completed in October. Local artist Gary Russell of The Iron Gallery just east of Rifle on Highway 6 & 24, has been commissioned to create statues of a cattle drive to adorn the insides of the roundabouts.