Residents of Manhattan soon will be going in circles - sort of.
A roundabout traffic structure will occupy the intersection of Fourth Street and Bluemont Avenue. It is planned to be completed by the beginning of the 2008 football season.
The decision for a roundabout at this intersection is a result of the Downtown Redevelopment Project and the changes that will be made to Fourth Street. Plans include widening the street to include a center turning lane to accommodate the increased amount of traffic anticipated on the street that soon will be the heart of the redevelopment project.
Robert Ott, city engineer, said project managers commissioned the Fourth Street Concept Study to find deficiencies in the traffic flow and ways to improve them. One of these deficiencies was the intersection of Fourth Street and Bluemont Avenue.
Two ideas emerged as solutions for the intersection - a traffic signal and a roundabout.
"The guidance we received from the city commission before we began the construction model was to go with the roundabout," Ott said.
Although the Manhattan City Commission approves of the idea, not all Manhattan residents are sold on having a roundabout instead of a traffic signal.
"One reason why people in this community are against them is the distaste for the traffic-calming circles," Ott said.
Traffic circles are used as slowing devices in many Manhattan neighborhoods. These one-lane devices are not the same thing as roundabouts. Ott said the size is the main difference, as the turn radius is much larger in a roundabout.
Roundabouts are safer than traffic signals when comparing injury accidents, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation. According to its Web site, www.kdot.org, fatal and injury accidents are reduced as much as 75 percent with roundabouts because of slower speeds and the reduced number of conflict points.
Ott said this is something they considered when choosing a roundabout for the intersection.
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