May 14, 2007
 
COMMENTARY: West Virginia Needs Traffic Roundabouts
 
By Craig Hammond
 

WashingtonState Department of Transportation
A 1997 published report listed the intersection at Maryland Avenue and US Route 460 in Bluefield as the deadliest intersection in the state of West Virginia.
 
Most of the fatal crashes there occurred when motorists failed to look both ways once they were given the green light. The US 460 portion of the intersection has a very steep grade traveling east to west.
 
Vehicles either can't -- or won't -- stop when they come barreling down at high speeds as they approach the intersection (locally referred to as the 'death trap). A similarly dangerous intersection in Fayette County on US Route 19 exists as well.
 
Everything from early warning lights to signage has been tried to make the intersection safer. Everything, that is, except a roundabout.
 
A roundabout is a circular intersection (see diagram) that joins two or more streets. The streets connect to a circulatory roadway that surrounds a central island. All traffic in the roundabout flows in a counterclockwise direction. Every turn that a driver makes when entering, while within and when leaving the roundabout is always a right turn.
 
Department of Transport UK
Drivers pass through the roundabout not only with efficiency, but with much more ease and safety. The average speed within a roundabout is about 15 - 20 MPH. It gets better.
 
Pollution levels at roundabouts decrease because vehicles passing through roundabouts do not stop, making the incidence of idling motors almost non-existent.
 
Also, roundabouts are cheaper to maintain than signalized intersections. Most of the costs of maintaining roundabouts have to do with landscaping and routine roadway maintenance such as street cleaning.
 
U-Turns? No problem. Drivers within roundabouts just circle around the central island and exit on the same street they entered in from.
 
A fender bender or two may occur in the first month because of driver inexperience with roundabouts. But as time passes, drivers catch on quickly. Minor problems may occur at first with pedestrians, bicyclists, emergency vehicles, and snow removal but over time that will diminish too.
 
The Center for Transportation Research & Training at Kansas State University, the Roundabouts USA, and the Federal Highway Administration have studied and have excellent information on roundabouts.
 
Roundabouts may not work everywhere in West Virginia, but they will in Bluefield and Fayetteville. It's a decision we can all live with -- literally.