MoDOT hosts public meeting, explains roundabout project in rural Sikeston

Attendees discuss the planned roundabout to be constructed at the Route BB and Route Y (West Salcedo Road) intersection in rural Sikeston during a public meeting Tuesday, July 16 at Missouri Department of Transportation’s Southeast District Office in Sikeston. Constructed is slated to begin in early 2025. (Leonna Heuring/Standard Democrat)

SIKESTON — In the near future, a new roundabout will be built to improve safety at an intersection in Sikeston.

The Missouri Department of Transportation held a public meeting on Tuesday, July 16, and the project involves building a roundabout at  Route BB and Route Y (West Salcedo Road) intersection. Route BB is under stop control at the intersection, while Route Y traffic flows freely.

According to Tim Pickett, MoDOT project manager, the roundabout is solely intended to improve safety. 

“The district staff identified this area as a good candidate for safety improvement,” Pickett said. “A lot of the accidents that were occurring at this intersection were of the more severe types.”

Pickett said a roundabout allows traffic to flow with little to no stopping, resulting in calmer traffic and lowering the likelihood of serious crashes. 

“A roundabout is a great way to eliminate those accidents,” Pickett said. “Some of the benefits of the roundabout is that it brings everybody into the intersection at a reduced speed. You only have one way to go and you can’t pull out in front of someone anymore.”

Pickett said some citizens have asked about the roundabout’s size and whether it will be able to handle farming equipment, tractors, and trailers.

Several people gathered for the public meeting regarding a roundabout in rural Sikeston Tuesday, July 16 at Missouri Department of Transportation’s Southeast District Office in Sikeston. (Leonna Heuring/Standard Democrat)

“This roundabout is 160 feet in diameter,” Pickett said. “It will handle the biggest semi, and it will handle agriculture equipment as well.”

Pickett said that the actual driving lane in the roundabout will be 20 feet wide. According to Pickett, the roundabout will also feature a truck apron.

“The truck apron is a little mountable curb of about 3 inches that is 15 feet wide so it should handle any big farm equipment through there as well,” Pickett said. 

Pickett said the project is expected to be let in the spring of 2025, with construction starting as early as the summer of that year. Work will be staged to keep the intersection open with minor impacts while tie-ins to the existing roadway are completed.

Pickett said completion is expected in winter 2025. 

“To give people an idea, this roundabout will be twice the size as the roundabout at Bertrand,” Pickett said. 

Pickett said when MoDOT looks at accidents, they typically look over a five-year period.

“What we were finding at this particular intersection was that we were seeing twice as many accidents,” Pickett said. 

There is a project webpage with the meeting handout, exhibits and an opportunity to comment available at www.modot.org/bbysikeston.

Comments will be accepted through July 30.