Four-way traffic lights are becoming a thing of the past as roundabouts take over many major intersections.
Johnson County has a dozen, all built within the last six years, and there are several more in the works.
Drivers, it seems, haven’t gotten the hang of them yet, as 135 accidents were reported in the circular intersections last year.
Roundabouts can serve as safe solutions to once dangerous or congested four-way intersections, and in some cases, that has happened.
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At a roundabout, traffic moves continuously in one direction around a center island until it reaches one of the connecting roads. They’re different than traditional four-way intersections because traffic does not stop, unless a car is yielding to enter a roundabout.
Greenwood and Franklin, the county’s largest cities, have the most roundabouts, and have spent millions constructing them since 2014. They have all improved traffic flow, but a couple still throw drivers for a loop, in one case resulting in nearly 100 accidents in one year.
Benefits outweigh cons
Greenwood and Franklin became the first in the county to incorporate roundabouts into its infrastructures.
The first, at North Main Street and Oliver Avenue in Franklin, was built in the summer of 2014 as part of the city’s Main Street reconstruction project.
Greenwood’s first roundabout was built in the summer of 2015 at Main Street and Averitt Road.
Since then, Greenwood has added three more roundabouts, and another three are in the works, said Daniel Johnston, city engineer. More often than not, the roundabouts have significantly increased traffic flow at once heavily-congested intersections, he said.
"They reduce the severity of accidents, and they keep traffic flowing," Johnston said.
Data from the Indiana Department of Transportation shows that roundabouts increase traffic flow between 30% to 50%, and fatal or serious car accidents decrease by 90% compared to traditional four-way intersections.
A particularly problematic intersection in Greenwood is where Madison Avenue and Smith Valley Road meet, just west of U.S. 31. Until a complex roundabout was completed in fall 2018, there were three stop lights in a row on Smith Valley Road, and traffic would back up—sometimes for miles—every day, Johnston said.
The solution, city leaders thought, was building a $2.9 million two-lane roundabout at Smith Valley and Madison, along with a jug-handle to prevent left-hand turns onto U.S. 31 from Smith Valley.
Drivers were confused. When it first opened, many cars would go the wrong direction or not yield to traffic properly, Johnston said.
Two years later, while traffic certainly flows better, the intersection is still problematic. In 2019, 82 accidents were reported there, according to the Greenwood Police Department.
"There are some growing pains for drivers, but as far as keeping the traffic moving, there has been a significant improvement," Johnston said.
Franklin has five roundabouts, with four more in the works over the next couple years, said Mark Richards, Franklin’s city engineer.
Replacing a four-way stop with a roundabout is done for a number of reasons, including safety, traffic flow and reducing fuel emissions by not having cars idle at traffic lights or stop signs, Richards said.
"Roundabouts are designed to move traffic quickly," he said.
In Franklin, roundabouts have been used to speed up traffic on highly traveled roads such as King Street and Main Street, and to keep semis moving along the truck bypass so they don’t have to idle and burn fuel to stop, Richards said.
"It’s important to keep the trucks moving," he said.
There are two roundabouts on the bypass, both on Eastview Drive, and three more are planned for Commerce Parkway.
Growing pains
While roundabouts are proven to increase traffic flow, they don’t prevent accidents from happening. There were 111 roundabout accidents last year in Greenwood, and 15 in Franklin.
The purpose, though, is not necessarily to prevent all accidents, but to decrease the severity of the accidents, Richards said.
"Accidents may drop by 50%, but the severity drops by like 90%," Richards said. "You may have people that rub fenders in roundabout accidents versus those right angle crashes that result in severe injuries or death."
Most accidents that occur at four-way intersections are when cars are turning and are hit from the side, usually at high speeds, according to studies on the safety of roundabouts by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). These types of crashes can result in serious injuries, according to FHWA.
In roundabouts, speeds are reduced to 15 to 20 miles per hour, and most accidents are minor side-swipes, FHWA says.
In Greenwood, nearly 3/4 of reported accidents happened at Smith Valley Road and Madison Avenue, Greenwood police said.
Some of the most dangerous intersections over the years in Johnson County have yet to report accident numbers as high as 82.
In fact, the most accidents reported at one intersection in a single year was 15 accidents at Schoolhouse Road and U.S. 31 in Franklin in 2016, according to data from IUPUI’s annual Indiana crash data study.
From a public safety standpoint, the high number of accidents isn’t necessarily concerning since most are fender-benders, said Matt Fillenwarth, Greenwood’s assistant police chief. But it is a significant inconvenience to have that many accidents at such a high-traffic intersection.
"As a police officer, I would rather take a bunch of fender-benders than fatalities. But that’s really not an intersection you need to have tied up," Fillenwarth said.
As a cop, he travels through the Smith Valley and Madison roundabout every day, and regularly watches drivers cut him off, fail to yield to cars inside, go the wrong way, change lanes and stop in the middle of the circle, all too common mistakes, he said.
"I don’t know what it is about that roundabout," Fillenwarth said. "Certainly, we could sit there all day and ticket people for not using the lanes properly, but I don’t know if that’s a solution."
Johnston could not pinpoint a specific cause for the issues with the roundabout. Drivers may be confused by the intersection in part because both lanes of traffic go all the way around, which differs from other multi-lane roundabouts in the city, such as the one at Worthsville Road which has an outside and inner lane only half way around it.
He also said people are still getting used to the change from a traditional traffic light.
"It’s just unique because of what it changed from … people were so used to having a traffic signal there," Johnston said.
The best solution is for drivers to be more mindful of the directional arrows painted on the road and signs—most of which had to be added after the roundabout was completed—and pay attention when driving, Johnston said.
"I think it’s just folks learning to yield to those already in the roundabout, being cognizant of staying in their lanes," he said.
Drivers should also use turn signals when planning to exit the roundabout, so other drivers know where they are going, Johnston said.
Another Greenwood roundabout, at Smith Valley Road and Yorktown Road, has caused some headaches as well, particularly for nearby homeowners. The owners of a house adjacent to the roundabout have had their fence knocked down four times from cars swerving out of the roundabout, Johnston said. Those accidents were caused by drivers going too fast inside the roundabout and not paying attention, he said.
In December, the city installed wooden posts with reflectors along that edge of the roundabout.
"The homeowner was appreciative of the city for doing that," Johnston said.
In Franklin, one roundabout, at King Street and Eastview Drive, has proven to be problematic.
Heading west into town, the right lane is a "right turn only" lane to Eastview Drive, and drivers consistently fail to notice the signage and cut off cars next to them to get in the left lane at the last minute, Richards said.
"The pavement markings are there, the signage is there, but people don’t pay attention," he said. "I’ve seen people cut off there. I’ve been cut off before."
Costly changes
Building a roundabout isn’t cheap. Most cost about $1 million to design and construct, Johnston said.
Greenwood has spent about $6 million on roundabouts. Franklin has spent about $7.9 million. Oftentimes, taxpayers aren’t footing those bills. Almost 80% of the cost is usually covered by federal grants, Johnston said.
Johnson County participates in the Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization, which allows its cities and towns to submit applications for federal funding. The funding is limited, so the selection process is competitive, as the other counties and municipalities within the nine-county ‘doughnut’ around Indianapolis also compete for the funding, he said.
Typically, when a project is selected, it receives about 80% of construction costs from federal sources. The remaining 20% is from local funds. Roundabouts can also be funded completely by local funds, by way of state gas taxes or TIF funds, Johnston said.
And, federal funding can also come from the Highway Safety Improvement Program, which provides grants to cities to improve dangerous intersections, Richards said. Franklin’s newest roundabout at Westview Drive and West Jefferson Street, which is expected to wrap up by the end of the summer, is being partially paid for by HSIP, he said.
"There was an issue with accidents in the intersection in the past," Richards said. "That’s how a project gets HSIP funding."
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Here is a look at current and future roundabouts in Greenwood and Franklin:
GREENWOOD
Main Street and Averitt Road
Year built: 2015
Cost: $584,000
Worthsville Road and Sheek Road
Year built: 2016
Cost: $1.6 million (part of Worthsville Road reconstruction project)
Smith Valley Road and Yorktown Road
Year built: 2017
Cost: $974,000
Smith Valley Road and Madison Avenue
Year built: 2018
Cost: $2.9 million
Planned: Worthsville Road & Averitt Road
Expected construction: Summer 2021
Estimated cost: $1.5 million (part of Worthsville Road Section 3 project)
Planned: Main Street and Meadowview Lane
Expected construction: 2021
Estimated cost: $900,000
Planned: Honey Creek Road and Stones Crossing Road
Expected Construction: 2022
Estimated cost: $1.5 million (part of Worthsville Road Section 2 project)
FRANKLIN
North Main Street and Oliver Avenue
Year built: 2014
Cost: $2.3 million (part of North Main Street reconstruction project)
Paris Drive and Gateway Drive
Year built: 2016
Cost: $1.9 million (part of King Street Phase 1 project)
King Street and Eastview Drive
Year built: 2018
Cost: $2.6 million (Part of Jefferson Street reconstruction project)
Eastview Drive and Upper East Shelbyville Road
Year built: 2018
Cost: $1.9 million
Eastview Drive and Hurricane Road
Year built: 2019
Cost: $1.8 million
Under construction: West Jefferson Street and Westview Drive
Expected completion: Late summer 2020
Cost: $1.8 million
Planned: Commerce Parkway and Arvin Road
Expected construction: 2021
Estimated cost: $1.8 million
Planned: Commerce Parkway and Graham Road
Expected construction: 2022
Estimated cost: $1.8 million
Planned: Earlywood Drive and Graham Road
Expected construction: 2025
Estimated cost: $2 million
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Here is a look at the number of accidents in 2019 at roundabouts:
Greenwood
82 at Smith Valley Road and Madison Avenue
14 at Smith Valley Road and Yorktown Road
15 at Sheek Road and Worthsville Road
Franklin
15 total accidents at city’s five roundabouts
Bargersville
6 at Whiteland Road and State Road 144
3 at Whiteland Road and Morgantown Road
Source: Cities and town’s engineering departments
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