By Mike Allen

Image:  Plan for roundabout by Dokken Engineering. Santee spent about $800,000 on engineering and design work since 2015, funds that will be lost if city doesn’t build it.

July 22, 2023 (Santee) -- Last month, the Santee City Council eliminated a project to build a roundabout at the Highway 67 off ramp at Woodside Avenue, costing the city about $800,000 it had spent on design and engineering plans going back to 2015.

The decision was made June 14, during a discussion of the city’s capital improvement program (CIP), essentially a wish list of projects over the next five years. While no formal vote was taken, at least three Santee councilmembers said the roundabout or traffic circle wasn’t necessary and would likely cause more traffic problems than the current, four-stop configuration.