IRON MOUNTAIN — Adding two roundabouts and a new signalized intersection to improve traffic safety on the south U.S. 2 corridor would come at a cost of roughly $16 million, according to a preliminary report from the Michigan Department of Transportation.

Iron Mountain City Manager Jordan Stanchina discussed the findings during a city council meeting Monday, pointing out MDOT would have to fund the work and nothing is now allocated.

The report was issued earlier this month after an MDOT-hired consultant did a traffic study. A final report is due in February.

Any major work would be years away, as MDOT budgets on a five-year cycle, Stanchina said.

Roundabouts would be built near the Tractor Supply entrance on U.S. 2 and the Home Depot entrance on U.S. 2. The signalized intersection would be at the Walmart entrance near Storheims Family Restaurant, providing an opportunity for pedestrians to cross safely. Cost will be a substantial

actor in any plans MDOT might pursue, Stanchina said.

In the short term, a left-turn arrow at Tadych’s Marketplace Foods is among the smaller changes under discussion.

A higher priority for MDOT might be a roundabout at the U.S. 141 intersection with Lincoln Avenue in Breitung Township. The cost for that work is roughly estimated at $5 million, again with nothing currently allocated, Stanchina said.

While the study area has had one traffic death within in the past 10 years, numerous “angle crashes” have occurred as the result of vehicles entering the paths of one another, Stanchina said.

In another matter, the council made no comment on a traffic control order MDOT and Michigan State Police issued last week raising the speed limit from 25 mph to 35 mph on Carpenter Avenue in Iron Mountain.

Iron Mountain Public Schools may be able to petition for a lower limit within the school area if it so desires, Stanchina said. A speed study was done after a March 10 crash at the intersection of Carpenter Avenue and West F Street claimed the life of an 84-year-old Iron Mountain woman.

The speed limit on Carpenter Avenue/M-95 from Breen Avenue to Hamilton Avenue in Kingsford also was raised as a result of the study, going from 35 mph to 40 mph.