WisDOT holds meeting for Highway 83/59 roundabout reconstruction

[GeekJedi]

This just opened late last year - apparently some trucks are having difficulty making it through the intersection.

http://www.livinglakecountry.com/blogs/staffblogs/153111445.html

[DaBigE]

Yeah, this one will give the DOT a black eye for a while...at least in Waukesha County.  With all the checks that occur with regards to roundabout construction, I don't know how this one slipped through the cracks.  (Although, I have my theories  ).  After seeing the plans and the video WisDOT shot, all I can say is they screwed up BIG time on this one.  In any case, this incident is paving the way for a whole new set of design check requirements. 

[Alps]

WisDOT's responsibility to inform the engineering design firm of the requirements they need to meet. As long as the design firm met the agency's requirements, they are not liable. That said, the best consulting engineers would have done the research to know the requirements and inform the DOT if they think something's not right. (It's often our job as engineers to tell the agencies that they're wrong - they can be convinced with sound reasoning. It is most emphatically NOT our job to do what we're told, which may have happened in this case. While there's nothing unethical about doing what you're told as long as you meet engineering requirements, principles, and judgment, it reflects poorly on you and your firm if that's all you do.)

[JREwing78]

People give them enough crap when they build a roundabout that's designed properly. They don't need the bad publicity from designing flawed roundabouts.

[DaBigE]

People give them enough crap when they build a roundabout that's designed properly. They don't need the bad publicity from designing flawed roundabouts.

EXACTLY.  It gives those of us who can do it right the first time, (checking OSOW route maps, other non-standard vehicles, using sound design practices, etc.) a bad name and a lot of clean-up work to do at subsequent PIM's.

As one of the ones involved with the fix, there is more than just lack of OSOW vehicle planning that is wrong with this roundabout.  There is plenty of blame to go around.  WisDOT has design standards clearly written out in the FDM.  Regardless, this should have been caught in any one of many design review meetings between the consultant, WisDOT project supervisors, other WisDOT staff, and Waukesha County.