By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
Fort Wayne has eight of them, with more planned. Fishers has 46 and Carmel has a whopping 150 of the things, more then any other city in America.
Now Decatur – and Adams County – is about to see work begin on its first … roundabout!
Five Points in Decatur will be closed down starting Tuesday for approximately three weeks as utility relocation will begin. Actual work on the roundabout isn’t expected to begin until next year.
Roundabouts are hardly new. The history of roundabouts can be traced to the 1790s, when Pierre L’Enfant proposed circular intersections for Washington, D.C.’s street layout.
Traffic circles have been part of the transportation system in the United States since 1905, when the Columbus Circle designed by William Phelps Eno opened in New York City.
As noted, Carmel has over 150 roundabouts, more than any other city in the entire U.S. So it has become known as the “Roundabout Capital of the United States.”
Indiana has 663 roundabouts, ranking it fifth highest in the nation, according to the Roundabouts Database compiled for the Transportation Research Board.
More than half of Indiana’s were constructed within the past decade.
Promothes Saja, assistant professor of civil engineering at Purdue Fort Wayne, told the Journal Gaszette last spring that it is well known that roundabouts are safer and more efficient than intersections with traffic lights and stop signs.
“They reduce crashes by about 40% overall, injury crashes by about 44% and fatal crashes by 70%,” he told JG. “They are definitely the way to go as soon as possible, and Indiana is taking the lead.”
Since 1996, Carmel’s population has soared from 30,000 to more than 100,000 people, city engineer Jeremy Kashman explains, but the number of serious vehicular crashes is lower today despite the traffic growth.
He said roundabouts have saved motorists 272 tanker trucks of gasoline annually due to less time spent idling at a traditional intersection, thereby reducing carbon dioxide’s impact on the environment.
“We kind of joke here we worked so hard to be more than just a one-stoplight town,” Kashman said. “Now, we’re working really hard to become a one-stoplight town again.”
Carmel’s well on its way. Fewer than 10 intersections with traffic lights remain in the city.
The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) has constructed 42 roundabouts on state roadways with more in the design phase. INDOT is in charge of the one being built in Decatur.
Saja said adoption has been slow because of the expense. The average U.S. roundabout costs about $2 million.
E&B Paving won the contract for the Decatur construction with a low bid of $2,493,109. Decatur’s 20% match will amount to $498,621.80, which is less than the amount the city budgeted for its share.
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