Is This New Rockford Traffic Circle a Temporary Roundabout?

Something has arrived at the intersection of Chelsea Avenue and Brendenwood Road in Rockford that has us confused.

Our first thought was that this is some sort of temporary roundabout, and frankly that's concerning, given many Rockford drivers continued inability to use the permanent ones we already have.

We asked on Facebook if anyone had any idea what this traffic circle was about, and it does make sense. This stretch of Chelsea Avenue sees a lot of speeders. Over the years a few things have been tried to stop the problem, but nothing has worked.

One neighborhood resident pointed out as you can see in the photo above, that there are still stop signs on Brendenwood and that wouldn't be the case if this were a true roundabout. You do have to slow down to navigate through this traffic circle. Perhaps this really is a study to see if it will alleviate the speeding issue. Was do you think? Have you ever seen something like this before?

I also take issue with the size of the bike lanes on Chelsea Ave.. They're so wide that you feel as if you'd sideswipe another car when passing each other.