ODOT Touting Effectiveness Of Roundabouts

(From the Ohio Department of Transportation)

This is National Roundabouts Week — a time to celebrate a simple engineering design that has dramatically improved the safety of intersections throughout the country.

It’s also an opportunity to share the numbers that demonstrate how well they’ve performed locally.

Officials with the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) are pleased with the results where roundabouts have been constructed, and how the overall public has adapted to them.

“The acceptance of roundabouts can lag in areas where roadways rarely change. You introduce a vastly different concept like a roundabout where stop signs and traffic signals rule, and it’s understandable why some motorists are hesitant,” said Chris Hughes, ODOT District 1 deputy director.

The safety improvement a roundabout brings is hard to argue against. “No intersection improvement will eliminate all crashes, but nothing equals the effectiveness of a roundabout in lessening the severity of crashes,” said Pat McColley, ODOT District 2 deputy director.

A roundabout is currently under construction near U.S. 68 and S.R. 15 on the south side of Findlay.

In 2019, Governor Mike DeWine directed ODOT to target safety improvements at 150 intersections statewide in rural, suburban, and urban areas. This represents an investment of $425 million over several years.

The table below details crash statistics at select locations throughout northwest Ohio before and after a roundabout was constructed. “The goal is always to reduce the number of injury and fatal crashes, and at every location, that occurred,” said Hughes.

Of these, four were identified on the governor’s list:

State Route 309 at Thayer Road and Napoleon Road, Allen County

U.S. 224 and State Route 587, Seneca County

U.S. 127 and U.S. 224/Marsh Road, Van Wert County

Visit ODOT’s website  and National Roundabouts Week | FHWA (dot.gov) for further information regarding the benefits of roundabouts and the week of observance.