Scottsdale's roundabout reversal now costs $3.4 million more

Scottsdale Councilman Says No Regrets on Roundabout Reversal — Even as Costs Climb

North Scottsdale drivers navigating Scottsdale Road between Jomax and Dixileta may have dodged a roundabout, but they couldn't quite dodge the bill.

A report released this week confirms that Scottsdale's decision last year to scrap a federally funded roundabout at Scottsdale Road and Dynamite Boulevard has pushed the replacement project $3.4 million over budget. Councilman Barry Graham, one of the four votes who killed the roundabout in April 2025, is standing firm.

"It would have been the only roundabout on the north Scottsdale, Pima corridors north of the 101," Graham said. "It was out of character and got massive pushback from local residents."

The backstory is a doozy of Valley municipal drama. The previous council had approved a $43.7 million overhaul of a two-mile stretch of Scottsdale Road — itself already a jaw-dropping jump from the original $13 million estimate in 2019. A multi-lane roundabout at Dynamite was the centerpiece, backed by a $31 million federal grant. Then new leadership took over, residents complained loudly, and the new council voted 4-3 to scrap the roundabout in favor of a traditional signalized intersection.

Problem: ditching the roundabout meant forfeiting that $31 million federal grant. Graham says the Maricopa Association of Governments stepped in with roughly $30 million in regional funding as a swap, keeping the city from absorbing the full hit. The new $3.4 million overrun will come from the project's contingency fund — leaving only $850,000 in reserve if anything else goes sideways.

Opponents like Councilmember Solange Whitehead had warned this was coming, noting that roundabouts reduce severe crashes by as much as 66 percent. The intersection had logged seven accidents between 2015 and 2019, five of which caused serious injuries.

Graham acknowledged further overruns are possible, but expressed confidence the completed corridor will be safer than before.

The rest of us will find out when construction wraps up — fingers crossed the contingency fund holds.

Sources: AZ Family | AZ Family (March 11) | ABC15 | 12 News | Daily Independent | Scottsdale.org