The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) expects to begin roundabout construction at US 89 and N. Lake Powell Boulevard/ Scenic View Road in October.  According to Page Mayor Bill Diak, the city began working toward getting the roundabout built at this location nearly 10 years ago.

ADOT estimates a spring 2025 completion of the $6.8 million single-lane roundabout. The project includes ADA-compliant sidewalk ramps and drainage. A new sidewalk will tie into the existing sidewalk on the south side of Scenic View Road.

ADOT said to expect delays, lane restrictions, workers directing traffic and signage. No work is planned for weekends or holidays.

The city overcame multiple obstacles to get the roundabout, including funding, state priorities, qualifying statistics and lobbyists from the trucking industry.

On Jan. 20, 2021, Arizona House Bill 2232 for the roundabout was approved 10-1 by the House Transportation Committee (HTC). The $5 million bill never made it past the House Appropriations Committee. Arlando Teller, Arizona State Representative at the time, introduced the bill. A month later, Teller was tapped by the U.S. Department of Transportation as Assistant Secretary for Tribal Affairs. Rep. Myron Tsosie, one of the original co-sponsors, presented the bill to the HTC.

Tony Bradley, president and CEO of Arizona Trucking Association, was also at the HTC meeting. “I don't think it's any secret that we hate roundabouts,” said Bradley. “My only members that like roundabouts are the tow truck companies because of all the accidents happening because nobody knows how to drive in a roundabout. Unfortunately, ADOT doesn't have the best record of consulting with the industry when they're trying to build these roundabouts." Bradley said, "The town of Page should consult the boating and houseboat industry about the design."

In 2021 Diak said, "Unfortunately, every transportation bill that was in for rural areas in northern Arizona has not made it out of house. With the loss of Arlando Teller, and the inability to get anyone else to pick up and speak for those bills, they are pretty much dead. This year was a total bust for rural communities in northern Arizona." Diak added, "We're preparing so that that won't happen again. The only way we can do that is be better connected to our representatives at the state level."

"It's disheartening," said Diak. He suggested the project may find support on the federal level.

The Chronicle spoke with then-U.S. Representative Tom O'Halleran in February  2021. He said, "We have a different way of getting these grants and funding into the system so that there is more power and transparency – more power at the local level than waiting on a potential five-year plan that you get rolled back to a 10-year plan by ADOT."

Things didn’t look good for Page getting a second roundabout, but the city pushed forward.

On Sept. 20, 2024, Page City Manager Darren Coldwell told the Chronicle, “There were two very instrumental people that I think really pushed it through for us. There was Arlando Teller, who was our representative, and he was the one that actually introduced the bills for us three separate years. And I think basically they kind of got sick of us because it's not normal for a city to go after direct appropriations for an ADOT project. Normally what you do is lobby ADOT, you get on their lists.

“[The project] was just kind of sitting there on the five-year plan. It just kept rotating forward until we spoke with Arlando Teller. He agreed to carry a bill for us through the transportation committee. And two separate years, it made it all the way to the floor, made it out of committee, made it out of review, and then made it to the floor for funding. And it was chopped. That's when we hired the lobbyist Dorn and Associates that helped Arlando kind of twist some arms.

“And then there was another guy from the Navajo Nation. His name was Jesse Thompson, and he was the chairman of the Governor's Department of Transportation Committee that funding goes in front of. And he literally came up, and I'm pretty sure it was Kyle (Public Works Director Kyle Christiansen) that took him out and sat with him for about an hour at the intersection of North Lake Powell in 89. And after that he said, ‘We’ll get you a roundabout’ when he saw how dangerous it was. And that year it made it all the way through and was funded in the Governor's budget.”

“We thought we were going to lose the funding because the [state] budget got tight, especially this last go around,” said Diak. “But we were able to stay in there and not get dropped like a lot of other projects.”

The Arizona Trucking Association also had a win when Governor Katie Hobbs signed HB2288 on May 1, 2023. The bill gives large vehicles 40 feet or longer right of way on roundabouts. All other drivers must yield. The law also requires signs be installed before a roundabout informing the public that large trucks have the right of way in the roundabout.

New roundabout designs are also more accommodating to large vehicles.

“The way we designed [the Walmart roundabout] has not been an issue for the houseboats. It's a large diameter with no raised center,” said Mayor Diak. “If they’ve got to cut the corner, they can, and it doesn't cause them any issues. So that's one reason why they went with this, that large diameter, low profile roundabout. And it was designed specifically to address houseboats. And you know what? It does the same thing for tractor trailers, too. Whether or not you're single or I would imagine the doubles, because once you start around that and you're making that turn, your trailers are going to track inside. That's one reason why I could see why truckers wouldn't like it, because with the old style, the way they did them with curbs and raised centers, it was tough on trailers.”