Community Meeting On Montwood Drive Roundabout Is Tonight

Ever since plans came to light that the city was considering replacing the four-way stoplights at Montwood Drive and Wedgewood Drive with a traffic circle, commonly called a roundabout, many residents of East El Paso have been up in arms.

An unscientific poll on kvia.com after the story originally aired in January showed that 60-percent of the 394 people who voted said they hated roundabouts.

The city began exploring the option after a project was approved to improve drainage on Montwood. City representative Steve Ortega said city engineers suggested installing the traffic circle in that intersection since the whole area would be under construction.

Ortega believes that if the roundabout is installed, drivers would acclimate to it. But due to the negative reaction to the plan, Ortega and representatives Emma Acosta and Michiel Noe are hosting a community meeting to talk about the roundabout and hear concerns.

“The people who show up are the people who count. And so I do expect that, we will have more people who show up that are against it,” Ortega said. “Although, I feel like once the information is presented to them by the professional engineers, that they may change their mind.”

The meeting will be held Wednesday evening at Eastwood High School, at 2430 McRae Blvd. in the cafeteria. It begins at 6:30 p.m.