HAYDEN - The Hayden City Council decided this week to go forward with the final design process for a two-lane roundabout at Honeysuckle Avenue and Ramsey Road.

The project is estimated to cost $1.3 million for the design, necessary right-of-way acquisitions and construction, Hayden Public Works Director Sean Hoisington said Thursday.

The city and David Evans and Associates Inc., the city's consultant on the project, will now be working on the final design and begin developing construction plans.

That work will help the city determine which properties adjacent to the intersection will be affected, and what land will need to be acquired by the city for right-of-way.

Hoisington said any necessary acquisitions are expected to occur through this fall. The current estimate is that 13 properties would be affected, but that number will likely change as the construction plan is completed.

Construction is projected to be completed next spring or summer, he said.

City officials have said traffic delays at the intersection have become unacceptable. The city also considered a smaller roundabout and going with traffic signals to resolve the delays.

Dick Schmidt, who has lived in Leisure Park for 11 years, said residents in that development next to the intersection are concerned about losing a valuable buffer zone against the noise on Ramsey. The city will need that property to build the roundabout.

"It's going to take out a lot of our shrubbery, trees and our fence," Schmidt told The Press Thursday.

Getting onto Ramsey from Leisure Park is going to get more difficult because of increased traffic on the north-south roadway, he said.

The project is "probably going to reduce some property values," Schmidt said.

Kim Beckman, who lives along Ramsey near the intersection, addressed the city council on Tuesday night before the council made a decision to go forward with the project.

"We recognize that the traffic has increased exponentially since we first moved into our home and know better than most that there is definitely a need for intervention at this intersection," Beckman said.

Her family has lived at the southwest corner of Ramsey and Honeysuckle for 38 years.

"I would like you to imagine having your front door and bedroom window 17 feet from a very busy four-lane road and sidewalk," Beckman told the council. "All of the established mature trees that presently exist in our front yard to buffer us from present traffic would be removed."

They would likely need to move their driveway south from its current location, she said.

While acknowledging something needs to be done and "that this is progress," she wanted to go on record with the council to say the project "would also render my home uninhabitable to our family," Beckman said.