By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
A few years back, some Bowling Green residents were apprehensive about the impending “carmageddon” caused by the first roundabouts in the community.
The city now has three roundabouts on its east side, one planned on the north side, and a study looking at the possibility of more on the west side.
“I think people have adjusted to them,” Mick Murray, the city’s public works director, said Wednesday. “Traffic moves a lot quicker and smoother through the roundabouts.”
The city is currently seeking engineering services to evaluate the feasibility of roundabouts on the West Wooster Street corridor, Murray said. The overall goal is to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety on West Wooster between Church Street and Wintergarden Road.
As part of that study, the city is looking at possible intersection upgrades – such as roundabouts – at two sites:
- Intersection of West Wooster Street and Haskins Road.
- Intersections of West Wooster, Wintergarden Road and Pearl Street.
“It seems like there are a lot of opportunities there,” Murray said.
The City of Bowling Green currently has three roundabouts – two at the East Wooster Street interchanges at Interstate 75, and one at the intersection of East Wooster and Campbell Hill Road.
Another roundabout was constructed by Wood County on the eastern edge of the city, at Campbell Hill Road and Napoleon Road.
The city has plans to build another roundabout at the intersection of Brim and Bishop roads on the north side of the community in 2028.
Other sites in the city are also being studied for the installation of roundabouts:
- At the intersections of Wintergarden Road and Sand Ridge Road, and also at West Gypsy Lane Road and Sand Ridge Road.
- At the intersection of Dunbridge Road and East Wooster Street. Previously, a roundabout was being considered for the access road into Woodbridge Business Park on Dunbridge Road. However, the addition of another access road to the business park on East Wooster Street has lessened the pressure at the Dunbridge Road access.
Roundabouts are credited with being safer for motorists, and more efficient for drivers and fuel consumption.
According to the Ohio Department of Transportation:
- Roundabouts have eight potential conflict points versus 32 at a traditional intersection. Studies by the Federal Highway Administration show that roundabouts achieve a 44% reduction in crashes and reduce serious injury and deadly crashes by nearly 90% at previously two-way stop intersections. When roundabouts replace a traffic signal, the FHWA found a 48% reduction in crashes and nearly 80% drop in serious injury and deadly crashes.
- Roundabouts can move traffic more efficiently which reduces delays and fuel consumption. This is because traffic generally doesn’t need to come to a full stop at the intersection.
- Roundabouts typically aren’t the most popular solution with the public. Much of that is due to a lack of education about their benefits and them being a relatively new traffic pattern for many areas of Ohio. Public reaction usually flips to positive within a year or two of them being installed and open to traffic.
