One year after Helena’s mini-malfunction junction lights were destroyed, city officials are divided on whether to keep it a five-way stop or add a roundabout.

Mini-malfunction junction is a five-way intersection on North Last Chance Gulch, Cruse, Neill and Helena avenues.

In July 2025, an unknown cause did “catastrophic” damage to the traffic light system, melting the internal wires so deeply there was little chance of repair.

Helena put up stop signs as a temporary fix that has since become a yearlong norm, acting like a five-way stop in what some have called an “accidental improvement.”

The intersection has been flagged as a potential roundabout location since 2012. The lights’ destruction moved the discussion forward.

City transportation officials updated commissioners on a roundab

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