Every time a town’s social media includes a post about a planned roundabout, the comments section produces a collection of entirely predictable answers from critics. That includes my favorite: “Why are we building roundabouts when out East, they’re eliminating them?!”
No, they’re not. It’s a common myth that’s rooted in the elimination of a different kind of round intersection that’s known as a rotary. You’ll find rotaries throughout the northeastern U.S., and if you find our area’s roundabouts intimidating, don’t ever try to navigate a rotary. Imagine a much larger circle with multiple lanes connecting four or five major highways, in which drivers entering the circle have the right of way over everyone else. That’s what some states have been replacing with safer, more modern intersections. Like us, they’ve been building quite a few roundabouts.
Contrary to popular belief, towns are not replacing signalized intersections with roundabouts because they think they’re cool-looking or because they want to be like Carmel. When planners opt for roundabouts, they’re doing it for two primary reasons. First, well-designed roundabouts increase traffic flow more than comparable intersections with traffic lights or stop signs. Second and more important, roundabouts virtually eliminate one of the deadliest types of vehicle crashes: what most of us call a T-bone.
It’s absolutely true that busy roundabouts tend to generate more of the sideswipe crashes that result in scrapes and fender dents (and occasional minor injuries). What they don’t generate is deaths and serious injuries. T-bone crashes are notorious for killing or badly hurting the occupants of the vehicle that gets hit. And the type of intersections at which T-bone crashes happen most are the ones where roads are at right angles to each other. Someone runs the light or forgets to stop at the stop sign, and someone else ends up hurt or dead.
I’m clearly in the pro-roundabout camp, and can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent sitting in intersections that desperately need to be converted. Hendricks County folks like to poke fun at Carmel for its love affair with the intersections. I frequently drive through Carmel, and am always impressed by how well traffic moves. Sure, I might need to pause for a few seconds before entering some roundabouts, but I don’t have to sit for a full minute or two at a traffic light.
Roundabouts aren’t the only type of intersection that provokes strong feelings. Many states have been installing a type of Interstate interchange known as diverging diamonds. Indiana built its first a few years ago at I-65 and Worthsville Road in Whiteland, and has built others since. The interchange of I-70 and State Route 39 between Belleville and Monrovia is one of the newest. Your first drive through a diverging diamond may be a bit disorienting, because you’ll briefly switch over to the “wrong” side of the road.
By making that switch, the interchange’s design significantly reduces the chance that vehicles will hit each other. Traffic engineers will tell you that a traditional interchange includes 26 points where traffic can encounter a conflict with other traffic. With a diverging diamond, there are only 14. There’s more visibility around turns. The design also allows for shorter and safer pedestrian crossings – and studies find that drivers are actually less likely to get confused and make a mistake than with traditional intersections.
I’ll never forget a public session where one resident stood up and proclaimed, “Change is a bad thing!” Like many Hoosiers, she took the view that anything new or different must be inferior to whatever made her comfortable, so I’m sure she was a roundabout-hater. But I’ll put my trust in the hands of the scientists and engineers who have been finding safer ways for us to get around. Don’t take my word for it, though. Do some research and you’ll see how their expertise has significantly lowered the number of people who are hurt or killed in accidents – and dramatically reduced the possibility you or your loved ones might be among those victims.