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PROJECT INFORMATION Traffic on North Burlington Boulevard is expected to grow due to the continued development in the downtown and South Burlington Boulevard commercial areas, as well as local redevelopment. The Burlington-Edison High School is planned for expansion from 1,260 students to 2,000 students in the long-term. A park-and-ride facility with 350 parking spaces is planned to be constructed by Skagit County Transit (SKAT) on property north of the high school in 2009. Redevelopment of other frontage properties, particularly on the east side of the highway, could include up to 155,000 square feet of new retail commercial space. To accommodate the growth, the City of Burlington is planning to widen North Burlington Boulevard in 2008 to two lanes in each direction with a center median. The median would not allow left-turns in or out of properties. However, the City is proposing to build a two-lane modern roundabout mid-way between Avon Avenue and Old Highway 99. This roundabout would provide access to the high school on the west side and to a public or private street on the east side. The access to the SKAT park-and-ride facility will be a separate driveway access with right-in/right-out. The roundabout would also compensate for left-turn restrictions on Burlington Boulevard by allowing traffic in either direction to make a "u-turn" to access properties on the other side of the street. In combination with a proposed roundabout at Old Highway 99, this would provide full access to all properties along the project. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is planning to improve the intersections of Chuckanut Drive (SR 11) at the I-5 ramps by constructing modern roundabouts and revising the ramp locations. The intersection of the northbound I-5 ramps would be combined into one two-lane roundabout with Old Highway 99. This project is scheduled for construction in about 2011. However, since the North Burlington improvement project is scheduled for construction as early as 2008, this may produce a gap of three years before the two roundabouts would provide full access to all properties. This could be a significant impact to existing and future commercial properties, as well as to the proposed SKAT park-and-ride facility assuming it has a separate driveway access. Interim solutions could be to provide a "jug-handle" design at the Old Highway 99 intersection, or to eliminate the median and allow two-way left turns for the interim years. This is what the proposed future Chuckanut Interchange at the end of N. Burlington Blvd. will look like. 
This is the proposed silo that will be going in the roundabout on N. Burlington Blvd. 
The videos below are examples to show you what a roundabout is, and how it works.
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