BELLEVUE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A temporary change to the traffic pattern at a popular Bellevue intersection won’t become permanent.
The Bellevue Village Board decided restricting left-hand turns near Costco isn’t a long-term solution.
Barriers were installed earlier this year to reduce crashes at the intersection of Landmark Boulevard at Costco Way. While restricting left-hand turns did make the intersection safer, officials said it created some other issues.
“Safety was the number one priority, and we knew in the short-term, some folks — while they adjusted to the change, while they figured out the new layout — we knew there would probably be some [drivers who] cut through in Costco’s parking lot, with the hope that once people got used to it and understood it better, they’d take the intended route,” said Village Trustee Tom Murphy.
That intended route was for drivers to travel north of Landmark Boulevard to Town Hall Road, then turn right onto Costco Way to access businesses. But three months after the change was implemented, officials determined very few drivers are following the village’s suggested route. Instead, they are continuing east on Landmark Boulevard and turning left into the Costco parking lot — causing congestion, back-ups and close calls.
According to Murphy, “Costco did have some concerns with the amount of traffic going through, and especially as they get into their busy holiday shopping season later this year, that concern was amplified.”
After hearing these concerns and studying the traffic patterns, the Bellevue Village Board decided it won’t permanently restrict all left-hand turns at the intersection. Instead, it’s moving forward with plans to install what is called a “porkchop configuration” that will allow drivers to turn left from eastbound Landmark Boulevard onto Costco Way.
“It’s a limited left-hand turn movement, which in our opinion, hopefully would still have the reduction in accidents, which is our number one concern, but also help improve the traffic flowing pattern through that area,” said Jason Kirsenlohr, Bellevue’s director of public works.
Final design and engineering is underway. The village estimates it will cost about $110,000 to make these changes, but officials said they are waiting for the bid to come back before making a decision about the change.
