The residents of Olmos Park, one of San Antonio's silk-stocking suburbs, will soon be the proud owners of a traffic "round-about" at the intersection of McCullough, Olmos, and Prado.

The eye-popping cost: $266,104.

Of course, the wealthy Olmos Parkers aren't going to foot the bill.

Oh, my no.

The working people of San Antonio and their laboring brothers and sisters across the country will have the privilege of paying for the chichi traffic-control project.

Well, that's not precisely correct.

U.S. taxpayers will pick up only $212,883 of the roundabout tab.

Olmos Parkers will sacrifice a few trinkets and a couple of baubles and pay the remaining $53,221.

(Makes you proud to be an Uh-merican, doesn't it?)

I'm sure the Opers (pro-nounced Aw-PEHRS) would want me to thank not only the nation's working people but also senior citizens on fixed incomes who are throwing their pennies into the pot.

And I know that those seniors will want to express appreciation to the Metropolitan Planning Organization, the federal agency, that approved the $212,883 expenditure and thereby let poor folks participate.

Scott Ericksen, public involvement coordinator for the local MPO office, explained the spending this way:

"Olmos Park requested funding for a transportation improvement project, and the board approved it."

"The board," which oversees MPO's distribution of federal gasoline-tax dollars in Bexar County, is made up of 10 elected officials and nine normal residents.

The board chairman is S.A. City Councilman TIM BANNWOLF, the political darling of 78209, 78212 and other lace-curtain ZIP codes (more about him later).

What makes the $266,104 roundabout bill particularly intriguing is the fact it was projected to be considerably less.

On April 24, 1996, the Express-News reported:

"The cost of the roundabout will be $42,800. Mayor Gerald Dubinski stressed that the project will be paid for with capital improvement funds."

By Jan. 29, 1997, the dollar figure had grown, and the Opers were looking for financial aid:

"… a request is being made to the Metropolitan Planning Organization for construction of a permanent traffic roundabout.

"Olmos Park will have to match the $70,000 grant with $30,000 of its own."

By March 2000, the price was near its impressive zenith:

"The lowest bid submitted for the work was $237,932. Olmos Park will pay $47,586… and MPO the remainder."

Three months later, with "engineering and contingencies" added, the "final " financing totals for the roundabout are:

$212,883 (U.S.-hoi polloi)

$43,221, (O.P. highbrows)

Contacted at his office at the Cancer Therapy and Research Center, Olmos Park Mayor Gerald Dubinski said he had "no comment on the costs.. the costs speak for themselves."

When I remarked that I couldn't recall an instance when a public official refused to comment on a public matter, Dubinski, a well-known civic leader and the executive vice-president of the research center, noted, quite correctly:

"There is a first time for everything."

(Be that as it may, I'm sure that the charitable gentleman would want me to thank all of the community's working stiffs for their financial support of his burg's trendy roundabout.)

Olmos Park City Manager Barbara Joseph was more helpful:

"We thought (the roundabout) was going to be a cost savings versus a traffic light, but it didn't turn out to be that way," she said it the understatement of the year.

"Environmental studies were required. Also, we had to meet federal and state specifications, and that increased costs."

"We estimated the cost would be $120,858, so when the ($237,932) bid came in, everyone was surprised and dismayed."

"By that time, we had invested so much time and effort."

The rest will be traffic control history when the roundabout is completed late this summer.

Summing up the pricey affair, MPO Board Chairman TIM BANNWOLF said:

Well, actually he didn't say anything.

A call to the councilman Wednesday afternoon was not returned.

I'm guessing he was tending to very important city business.

Or maybe combing his hair.

For Voter Education purposes only.