After nine months of going in circles on whether to use roundabouts, the Issaquah City Council voted Monday to install three of them on Newport Way.

“I don’t think this a blanket pass for all roundabouts forever,” said Tola Marts, who was initially skeptical about the city’s design, but voted for it.

Issaquah currently only has one major roundabout at Southeast 43rd Way, but discussion about roundabouts on other projects isn’t uncommon.

The project is designed to prepare for traffic for 20 years from now, and also calls for adding sidewalks and widening the road.

The 4-2 decision didn’t come without disagreement.

At public hearings residents were as equally divided on whether there should be stoplights or roundabouts as they were united on their disapproval of installing a median.

The median would have made some residents drive several blocks passed their homes before finding a U-turn spot.

Imagine the horror on people’s faces as aid cars drive several blocks passed their patients, before being able to turn, said Joshua Schaer, who led the dissenting opinion.

Removing the medians was the only major change the council put forth to the city.

Council members looked at models that showed how long it’d take cars to turn with roundabouts and lights, but much of the timing was so close that council disagreed on what was best.

Western Washington drivers aren’t comfortable with roundabouts, and often stop instead of yielding, said John Traeger, a council member.

To compound the problem, proposed roundabouts would be much smaller than the one on 43rd Way, making the turn sharper, he said.

Schaer argued the design goes against the city’s policy to give priority to arterial traffic.

Because roundabouts provide equal opportunity for all directions to turn, they give too much priority to side streets, Schaer said.

Not everyone agreed that it was a problem.

“There is a small difference in favor of the side streets versus arterials,” Marts said, “but it’s really, really small.”

Schaer proposed a compromise with a roundabout at Northwest Juniper Street, and traffic lights at Northwest Holly and Dogwood streets.

Where some were skeptical, others met the proposal with enthusiasm.

A former downtown merchant, Eileen Barber was pleased to see, after years of fruitless talk, a project finally being approved, she said. “This will definitely flow traffic through the area.”

The council’s decision will begin the design phase of the project, although there isn’t yet money for construction.