Round and round Morro Bay goes as the council determines whether a second roundabout is in the community’s best interest.
The potential new traffic circle installation has proven controversial, as the council pondered overturning its previous decision to halt the project entirely.
About 25 people spoke at the May 27 meeting and nearly 100 sent in email correspondence about the issue, half advocating for building the roundabout for traffic control, while half claimed the location, at the intersection of Main Street, Highway 1, and Highway 41, lacked enough safety measures for nearby students and cyclists.
“A roundabout at this intersection is unnecessary overkill and would be dangerous to the great number of pedestrians from Morro Bay High School, and the many residents of nearby mobile home parks, who use this intersection to walk to the beach,” resident Tina Metzger wrote to the board.
Consideration for a roundabout started in 2023 when the council approved starting an environmental impact report, which would be the first of about three phases before the project would be complete. Once Morro Bay finished the study, Caltrans would fund and complete the design and construction at no cost to the city.
Right now, the first phase is about 96 percent complete, and according to Morro Bay Public Works Director Greg Kwolek, the city has spent about $350,000 on the study with $81,000 left to complete it.
But this first phase took a quick detour after the council expressed concerns about the roundabout’s safety and traffic flow at its April 22 meeting, ultimately halting the project entirely with a 3-2 vote.
Mayor Carla Wixom told New Times that after the council stopped the nearly completed study, the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG) offered its services to complete the study if the city funded the remaining cost.
With a 4-1 vote, the council opted to turn the study over to SLOCOG on May 27.
While Wixom has historically been against a roundabout at Highways 1 and 41, she told New Times the council recognized this as an opportunity to resolve community division by placing it in the hands of transportation professionals, and that the city would still have a seat at the table for future phases.
“We want things that bring us together, not divide us, and so everybody’s very impassioned with their positions on this, and most of it really comes back to the concerns for safety for pedestrians and bike riders,” she said. “Right now, that’s not the phase we’re at. So, unfortunately, the process is that you’re going to move to that phase—which means you spend more money. So there’s more time, commitment, and money to decide if a year or two from now, when it comes back in that design phase, do we accept this project?”
Once SLOCOG completes the environmental impact report, the project will shift to Caltrans for a design plan, Wixom said. From there, the project will return to the council for its final approval and public input before construction.
“We got there, and it’s moving forward,” Wixom said. “Again, it comes down to a very divided issue, and unfortunately a lot of the information I think that the community needs is not yet available. It’ll come through this next phase.” Δ
This article appears in May 29 – Jun 8, 2025.