Members reconsider initial rejection of plan for Shank Painter gateway.

PROVINCETOWN — The roundabout has been brought back around.

Last month, the Provincetown Select Board rejected preliminary plans for a roundabout on Route 6 at Shank Painter Road. The idea was one piece of a larger state project that will redesign Shank Painter Road and the highway down to Herring Cove, making it more accessible for bicyclists and pedestrians.

The board instead approved plans for a traffic signal at the intersection, despite the recommendations of the town’s consultant and an official from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, who said the safest route was a roundabout.

On Monday, the board took a U-turn on the roundabout idea, voting to insert it in the plans to be submitted to the department.

Select Board member John Golden had requested the board reconsider its earlier action and, along with fellow board member Robert Anthony, changed his vote.

The 3-2 vote April 22 against the plan was then flipped to 4-1 in favor of the roundabout.

Anthony and Golden previously said if any intersection was to get a roundabout, it should be at Conwell Street and Route 6, not at Shank Painter. The project, however, is being done through the state's Transportation Improvement Program at an estimated cost of $9.4 million, all being covered by the state. If Provincetown wanted a roundabout at Conwell, Golden said, the town would have to foot the bill.

Provincetown will have to chip in $628,000 to pay for the design work.

Golden also did not see the need for a light at Shank Painter, especially in the quieter months.

“Stopping at a traffic light in February, that’s not really necessary,” he said.

Anthony also explained why he switched his vote.

“I voted no to the roundabout the first time and over the last few weeks, ever since that meeting, I’ve been thinking about it,” he said. “If Shank Painter was going to stay the way it is, right now, I’d maybe hang on to my vote.”

The current plans aim to make Shank Painter the main gateway to downtown. Shank Painter will have bike lanes on both sides of the road, and Route 6 from the Shank Painter intersection to Herring Cove will drop down from its current four lanes to two.

Putting a traffic light at the intersection did not make sense to Anthony, and he said the experts had a good rationale behind their recommendations.

The north roadbed of Route 6 will host a lane of traffic in either direction, and the south roadbed will become a path for walkers and bikers.

"It’s a huge win for people who walk and bike," Rik Ahlberg, chairman of the Bicycle Committee, wrote in an email. "Right now, Route 6 and Shank Painter Road are dominated by motor vehicles, but people still walk and bike there despite risks to their safety since there are no other alternatives. This project is a huge opportunity to make those roads safer and even attractive for walking and biking."

There are still concerns from the committee about safe crossing of Route 6 and how the new path would connect to other paths in the Cape Cod National Seashore, he wrote.

The plans approved by the Select Board are preliminary and more design has to take place.

The project is slated for funding in fiscal 2023 but could be delayed because of other projects in the state pipeline, Director of Public Works Richard Waldo said.

— Follow Ethan Genter on Twitter: @EthanGenterCCT.