Roundabout and other improvements coming to Eastern Duluth

Road upgrades are coming to East Duluth and Lakeside neighborhoods starting with a roundabout. At the intersection at Snively, Glenwood, Jean Duluth Road.

Traffic Engineer with St. Louis County Victor Lund says, "The project of a round like this typically takes three months to construct that’s about as fast as we can do it."

The reason they are turning the intersection into a roundabout is because they believe it’s failing as an intersection.

Lund says, "There’s significant congestion especially in that 7-9am period and that 4-6pm period, you get out there sometimes and you may experience if you are unlucky upwards to 2-3 minutes of delay."

The announcement has been met with mixed reactions but Lund says the benefit will be better in the long run.

"Think about it from a long-term investment stand point we are intending to build this project for the long-term so that residents will see that benefit going well into the future”, says the traffic engineer.

The roundabout is just one of many upgrades coming to Duluth the entire Snively road is set to be resurfaced along with other roads in Duluth. According to Victor, "We are resurfacing West Arrowhead Road, that’s a partnership with the city of Duluth, between Kenwood and Woodland Avenue. And then the last thing is that we are replacing the traffic signal on arrowhead."

The plans to upgrade the intersection were put in motion almost 5 years ago. Lund says, "Transportation is important for growth if our transportation system is deficient those deficiencies cost us, the public, at large quite a large sum of money."