Roundabouts are popping around Washtenaw County with the ferocity of daisies, but not quite as annoying.
The latest is planned for the intersection of Whitaker and Stony Creek roads in Ypsilanti. The area has experienced commercial development pressure in recent years, forcing officials at the Washtenaw County Road Commission to come up with the right way to make traffic flow smoothly through the intersection.
"We dug into out toolbox to see what else we could do with the intersection," says Mark McCulloch, project engineer for the Washtenaw County Road Commission.
The options basically whittled down to expanding the traffic signal currently there or go with a roundabout. The commission chose the latter, planning to build the roundabout in 2010 for about $1-$1.3 million.
There are currently seven roundabouts in existence in Washtenaw County today and another one on the way. Three more, including this newest one, are still in the planning stages. Most will be located in and around Ann Arbor. This is the first for Ypsilanti.
Modern roundabouts include a central island to guide the vehicular traffic and splitter islands at each leg of an intersection. One-way traffic moves around the central island where entering traffic must yield to the traffic already in the roundabout.
Roundabouts slow and calm traffic, resulting in fewer accidents. They also decrease delays and cut down on the number of idling vehicles, reducing air pollution.
They are common throughout Europe and have been appearing more frequently in North America in recent years. More common on the coasts, roundabouts and traffic circles have been popping up in southeast Michigan's suburbs in recent years.
Source: Mark McCulloch, project engineer for the Washtenaw County Road Commission
Writer: Jon Zemke
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