PennDOT announced that according to department data, fatalities, injuries and crashes decreased overall at 19 roundabouts at 16 locations after they were built.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced that according to department data, fatalities, injuries and crashes decreased overall at 19 roundabouts at 16 locations after they were built.
"We are glad to promote the use of roundabouts throughout the commonwealth," said PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards. "The facts speak for themselves. Roundabouts save lives and reduce crash severity over standard stop or signal controlled intersections."
PennDOT recently reviewed data for 19 roundabouts on state routes at intersections that were previously stop or signal controlled. These roundabouts were selected based on having at least three years of crash data available before and after the roundabouts were built. These 19 comprise all the roundabouts on state routes that met the selection parameters. Department data based on police-submitted crash reports spanning the years 2000 through 2018 shows:
- Fatalities were reduced (from 2 to 0)
- Suspected serious injuries were reduced by 90 percent (from 10 to 1);
- Suspected minor injuries were reduced by 79 percent (from 24 to 5);
- Possible/unknown severity injuries were reduced by 81 percent (from 70 to 13);
- Property damage only crashes increased by 10 percent (from 69 to 76); and
- Total number of crashes decreased by 34 percent (from 138 to 91).
In addition to the 19 roundabouts meeting the selection criteria, 29 other roundabouts have been built on state routes and over 40 more are in design. The roundabouts included in the review were at the following intersections:
- Allegheny County — Route 3070 (Ewing Rd.) & Business 376 Ramp, opened in 2011;
- Beaver County — Route 0068 (Adams St.), Route 1034 (Brighton Ave.) and Route 6018 (Brighton Ave./Rhode Island Ave.), opened in 2011;
- Bucks County — Route 2043 (Trevose Rd.) & Somerton Rd., opened in 2012;
- Butler County — Route 3024 (Glen Eden Rd.) & Powell Rd. & Freshcorn Rd., opened in 2015;
- Chester County — Route 0082 (Doe Run Rd.) & Unionville Rd., opened in 2005;
- Chester County — Route 0052 (Lenape Rd.) & S. Wawaset Rd. & Lenape Unionville Rd., opened in 2014;
- Cumberland County — Route 0034 (Spring Rd.), Route 1007 (Sunnyside Dr.) & Mountain Rd., opened in 2014;
- Dauphin County — Route 0039 (Linglestown Rd.) and Route 3019 (Mountain Rd.), opened in 2011;
- Delaware County — Route 1023 (N. Newtown St.) and Route 1046 (St. Davids Rd.), opened in 2008;
- Delaware County — Route 0320 (Chester Rd.) & Rutgers Ave. & Fieldhouse Ln., opened in 2014;
- Erie County — Route 0019 (High St.) and Route 0097, opened in 2014;
- Luzerne County — I-81 Exit 178 (three roundabouts) — Route 0315 (Airport Rd.) & Williams St./Ramp, Route 0315 & Ramps & Terminal Rd. & Navy Way Rd. and Williams St. & Ramp, opened in 2015;
- Montgomery County — Route 0029 (Gravel Pike) and Route 0073 (Big Rd.), opened in 2009;
- Washington County — Route 0519 (two connected roundabouts) — Route 0519 & Brownlee Rd. and Route 0519 & Thompson Eighty Four Rd., opened in 2015;
- York County — Route 0116 (Main St.) & Hanover St. & Roths Church Rd., opened in 2007;
- York County — Route 0074 (Delta Rd.) & Bryansville Rd., opened in 2008.
Roundabouts are frequently installed to address intersections with safety issues but may also be installed to improve traffic flow as well as other reasons such as traffic calming, and to facilitate pedestrian mobility.
Although roundabouts are safer and typically more efficient than traditional signalized intersections, in many cases they may not be the best option due to topography or other reasons, such as property impacts, capacity issues and proximity to other intersections.
Roundabouts are recognized by the Pennsylvania State Transportation Innovation Council (STIC) as an innovation that has become standard practice within the transportation community.
Today's top stories
