SCOTT DEPOT, W.Va. (WCHS) — The West Virginia Division of Highways has not yet made a decision on a controversial roundabout proposal for Scott Depot.

The concerns from some people and businesses center around the home and business loss and congestion that could come from a proposal that would put four roundabouts in a mile-and-a-half stretch of Teays Valley Road from Apple Lane near Anna's Alterations to the Great Teays Boulevard intersection at Kroger.

Some have joined together to form the Committee for Common Sense in Widening Teays Valley Road, and several were at Putnam County's bi-monthly transportation meeting on Monday to present their own design for road widening and call on DOH to have another public hearing on the matter.

Cheryl Manypenny Thrift is a retired engineer who once worked for DOH. She spoke during Monday's meeting against the roundabouts.

“I’m not an anti-roundabout person. A roundabout is a tool in a highway designer’s toolbox. It is not the right tool for Teays Valley Road," she said during public comment.

She is part of the Committee for Common Sense and helped design an alternative to the plan that she recently showed DOH officials and then Putnam County Commissioner Brian Ellis on Monday.

Thrift said she would be for one roundabout at the busy Kroger intersection at Great Teays Boulevard, but the rest of the road should just get a center turn lane.

“We took a good look at that and we were able to bring that down to 52 foot wide to minimize the impact to businesses and houses along Teays Valley Road but still provide that center turn and still provide the multi-modal, which is the sidewalk and the bike path," Thrift said.

Earlier in the year, DOH put out two proposed options for the public to voice opinions on that were meant to address safety and traffic concerns on that stretch of road. Option 1 is a center turn lane that would make the road and a new sidewalk 66 feet and take out 23 homes and 8 businesses. The committee’s plan is a modified version of this, where it is 52 feet instead, taking out the proposed grass median.

The second option is the DOH-preferred one with the four roundabouts, where they would have to buy out 18 homes and six businesses. No official decision has been announced yet on how they will proceed.

Kevin Sullivan, who attends the Putnam County transportation meetings as a DOH representative, told the crowd this on Monday at the meeting.

“There’s a lot of bad comments about it, but that’s the ones you hear about. You’d be kind of surprised by there are quite a few good comments," Sullivan said.

Both residents and business owners continued to express concern on Monday, especially about the roundabout plan, worried about the impact, construction and potential traffic jams that could come from it, especially when tractor-trailers are redirected off Interstate 64.

Zach Crede, part of Crede's Lawn and Landscaping, said if DOH cannot go along with the committee's 52-foot plan, then they should leave the road the way it is.

"I'm, of course, for the turn lane, but if that's not what we're going to get, as somebody that has businesses in the area, we've got anywhere from 20-to-25 trucks a day coming in and out of our property, leave the road alone."

DOH has maintained all along that it did engage stakeholders in the beginning, but those who have businesses and homes along the road did not feel like they were made aware until the plans were already developed. Now more is known about the project, the DOH has been encouraged to host another public hearing.

“We’re asking them to take a step back and hold another public meeting and or a public hearing and do a little better job advertising and get the real stakeholders out there to voice their opinion on the project," Thrift said.

There will be another Putnam County transportation meeting on Nov. 17 at 9:30 a.m. in the Putnam County Courthouse.