Yelm Public Works and Thurston County Public Works collaborated on Wednesday, Feb. 26, at Prairie Elementary to provide the community with updates about several new roundabouts planned for the next year in Yelm and McKenna.
The town hall event provided an informal, conversation-based opportunity for community members to speak about traffic plans with City of Yelm and Thurston County public works representatives.
Cody Colt, Yelm’s public works director, provided information about several roundabouts planned in Yelm in the near future, including at East Yelm Avenue and Bald Hill Road Southeast, at Bald Hill Road Southeast and Morris Road. He expects Yelm to go to bid for the East Yelm Avenue and Bald Hill Road roundabout later this year and potentially into early 2026. Colt anticipates construction of the roundabouts being concluded in late 2026 or early 2027.
“This means we would start construction next year. We should be able to coordinate this project (East Yelm Avenue and Bald Hill Road SE roundabout) with the other projects,” Colt said. “We’re asking the state right now to get funding for the (Bald Hill Road SE and) Morris Road roundabout, or we’ll have to build it with our own money. I’d rather use state money than local money.”
Whether Yelm is able to secure funding from the state for construction of the Morris Road Southeast and Bald Hill Road Southeast roundabout, Colt believes residents should expect construction of that roundabout in the same timeframe as the East Yelm Avenue and Bald Hill Road roundabout.
According to Colt, there will be two phases to the roundabout at East Yelm Avenue and Bald Hill Road Southeast. He said though both lanes of the roundabout will be constructed, until traffic volume calls for two lanes, the new roundabout would remain single lane. He estimates the second lane will open in the timeframe of 2035 to 2037.
“Until traffic volumes are high enough, we’ll close one lane because it will cause confusion with two lanes and drivers weaving in and out,” Colt said.
The East Yelm Avenue and Bald Hill Road Southeast and Vail Road Southeast and state Route 507 roundabouts are funded by Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), and Colt said Yelm is still working toward obtaining state funding for the Morris Road Southeast and Bald Hill Southeast roundabout. Additionally, Yelm is still working on gaining right of way from local businesses and properties at East Yelm Avenue and Bald Hill Road Southeast.
“We have a couple sections where we have to get right of way acquisition from the property at Starbucks where their signage is. Chevron’s sign we have to get, and the same thing at AM-PM,” Colt said. “We’ve already talked to all the property owners and they’re all on board, but it’s just coordinating. It’s always a negotiation. You have to find a happy medium there.”
Colt foresees a roundabout at state Route 507 and Walmart Boulevard Southeast to be the first of the new roundabouts constructed in the area. This roundabout is also funded by WSDOT and is part of the Yelm Loop project, according to Colt.
“That will be the first of the roundabouts going in. There might be some overlap (with construction of the other roundabouts), but I’d rather mess it up for six months, but after that, you’re done,” Colt said. “I think that’s the best way to do it. If you remember Tacoma and how they’ve been under construction for over 30 years, it’s always a traffic nightmare. If we do it all at once, we know it’s going to be bad for six months. But that’s it.
“It’s something where it’s going to be a nightmare for a while.”
Matt Unzelman, Thurston County public works engineer, spoke additionally about the roundabout at state Route 507 and Vail Road Southeast near Stewart’s Meat Market. According to the county engineer, this roundabout is driven by two different concerns — safety and traffic congestion.
“We have a safety program. We’ve had multiple serious injury and fatality collisions at this specific location,” Unzelman said. “I can’t say enough from the safety perspective, too. We’ve had some pretty terrible wrecks at this location.
“We also experience a lot of traffic congestion, especially when we have issues on I-5 and all the traffic is detoured through the City of Yelm. At that point, it basically becomes a bottleneck. This is a way to try to alleviate that congestion before it even gets to the city.”
Unzelman believes a roundabout in that specific location will be great because it will slow the fast paced traffic down at that busy intersection of state Route 507 and Vail Road Southeast. He believes it will also reduce the number of collisions.
“This part of the county is growing very fast. We’re seeing a lot of development occurring, and facilities have to keep up with development. If facilities don’t keep up to speed with development, then we can’t allow for development to continue,” Unzelman said. “It’s our job to review the infrastructure system as a whole and make sure we’re targeting those projects to accommodate further.”
According to Unzelman, Thurston County is getting ready for right of way acquisition needed to begin the project. He’s hopeful to see this specific roundabout also go to construction in 2026.
“We’re going to try to phase the projects to minimize interruptions. If all three roundabouts were going on at the same time, it would be a little problematic especially for the local community,” Unzelman said. “We’ll be coordinating with the City of Yelm and Pierce County to try to phase them out.”
