Next year, the state Department of Transportation plans to turn the intersection of West Fakkema Road and Highway 20 into a compact roundabout.

As a result, traffic on the section of the highway may become periodically jammed up as the work next summer will require some detours and road closures.

Chris Damitio, assistant regional administrator, said at a recent Oak Harbor workshop that the spark for the $3.3 million project is safety. Because this intersection has no prior safety improvements, it was easier to identify funding for than other Island County projects.

“Too often when needs are brought forward to me especially on roads here in Island County, my response is sadly that it doesn’t prioritize well when you look at other needs statewide,” he said.

It’s a unique intersection, said Adam Emerson, design project engineer, in that four jurisdictions converge. Highway 20 is of course state controlled. Northeast is the county boundary; southeast is the city and west is the Navy.

Currently, traffic flows freely through Highway 20 past Fakkema, and a stop sign controls Fakkema. Compact roundabouts, 90 feet in diameter compared to the full 120 feet, are becoming more prevalent on state highways.

From 2014 to 2023, the intersection saw 25 crashes involving 53 vehicles and 18 injuries. Of these, 65% are either head-on or angle collisions.

Councilmember Barbara Armes said she has firsthand experience in the dangers of the intersection.

“It is a mess, trying to go out or in, it’s always a mess,” she said. “It’s like, ‘oh geez, I wonder who’s going to get who first.’”

Compact roundabouts are made of red pavement and no greenery. The department will add crosswalks, curbing and lights for pedestrians.

Perhaps the biggest change is the elimination of the passing lane for that stretch of Highway 20.

“That was a point of a lot of discussion amongst all the partner agencies as well as our headquarters traffic folks and region traffic folks,” Emerson said. “Ultimately the decision was made that the best decision to balance the needs — vehicular, pedestrian, scope, budget, all that — was to remove the second lane between Ault Field and Fakkema.”

Emerson said the second lane will be redeveloped into a passing shoulder for slow-moving vehicles to get out of the way.

“Obviously that’s going to be a big change for drivers in the area,” he said.

In the future, he looks forward to the extension of the bridge to boat trail, from Deception Pass to the Clinton Ferry Terminal, to give pedestrians and bicycles a path away from the highway shoulder.

Construction is set to begin in spring of 2025 and wrap up by the end of the year. This will include shoulder and lane closures with flaggers Sunday nights through Friday mornings.

The crew will also shut the highway down for 90 hours and provide three concurrent detours around the intersection. This is typically done on a Friday through a Tuesday.

Emerson said the department hasn’t been able to come up with feasible or safe alternatives to a full closure.

“We recognize that that’s incredibly impactful to the community, to travelers in general,” he said.

Councilmember Bryan Stucky said that the intersection of Ault Field Road and Highway 20, just north of Fakkema, sees even more traffic.

Emerson said he is unaware if the intersection to the north sees more collisions, but because it already has a traffic signal and Fakkema and Highway 20 does not, the latter is a stronger candidate for state funding.

Same goes for Swantown Road and Highway 20, said Steve Schuller, Oak Harbor’s public works director, which is another dangerous intersection that Councilmembers Tara Hizon, Shane Hoffmire and Stucky suggested the department assess. That intersection, while imperfect, has traffic lights to address the problem so it is a low priority to the state.

Hoffmire said that roundabouts are controversial but effective.

“Up near Anacortes if you look at Sharpes Corner and end up at the top of the hill, those roundabouts, maybe they were controversial at the time. I haven’t been stuck in traffic there since,” he said. “In the past it used to be brutal, so they do work.”