Oakland County has the most roundabouts of any county in the state, and on Aug. 27, the 45th one opened to motorists with a surprising twist.
The roundabout at the intersection of Wixom Road, Wixom Trail, Sleeth Road and Duck Lake Trail on the border of Commerce and Milford townships did not draw the harsh vocal criticism from motorists that all of its predecessors have received to varying degrees over many years — ranging from dire “end of the world” predictions to simple annoyance.
“The one we built this year, I don’t remember any opposition,” Craig Bryson, spokesman for the Road Commission for Oakland County, said. “The Wixom one, if they were unhappy, they didn’t tell us.”
After 27 years of the circular road reconfigurations without traffic
lights or stop signs, Bryson wonders if drivers are finally adapting to roundabouts.
The traffic configurations got their start in England in the 1960s and spread through Europe in the 70s and 80s and were even immortalized in music with the song “Roundabout” by Yes, Bryon said.
But they were slow to arrive in the U.S., and he believes Oakland County was the first in Michigan to install a roundabout, with traffic engineers here taking a risk in 1999 with the aim of reducing risk and increasing safety for drivers.
The county’s first roundabout, at the intersection of Tienken, Runyon and Washington roads on the Rochester/Rochester Hills border, was very controversial, Bryson recalled.
Engineers deliberately chose a fairly low-traffic area without a large incidence of crashes in case the roundabout didn’t go well.
Despite the experiment working and engineers pushing forward, drivers continued to push back against roundabouts.
“For years after that, any time we announced a roundabout, people came unglued,” Bryson said.
Around 2008, when RCOC proposed the “Northwestern Connector Project,” to improve traffic improve traffic flow where Northwestern Highway dead ends at Orchard Lake Road just north of 14 mile, Bryson remembers some drivers predicting “the end of the world and mass deaths.”
After suing the Michigan Department of Transportation, RCOC eventually built five roundabouts in the West Bloomfield and Farmington Hills area, including two a mile apart on Maple Road at Drake and Farmington roads.
While the community was divided over whether it would be a disaster or a good thing, Bryson said history has proven those in the latter camp were correct.
At those intersections in particular, there were a high number of accidents previous to the roundabouts. After, there was a clear reduction in crashes, particularly fatal or serious injury accidents, which roundabouts everywhere have seen, Bryson said.
He does acknowledge that one of the challenges with roundabouts has come from those with multiple lanes, which may see a higher number of fender-benders or sideswipes when drivers change lanes while in the circular configuration.
“It’s a trade we are willing to make,” Bryson said.
Design changes have been made over the years as engineers learn along with drivers. Roundabouts now are less likely to have multiple lanes, striping has changed, and entrances to the circles have slightly sharper curves to slow down motorists. There are more signs educating drivers.
When using any roundabout, including the new $2.2 million roundabout at Wixom Road, Wixom Trail, Sleeth Road and Duck Lake Trail, which carries more than 12,000 vehicles a day, drivers are reminded to:
- Yield to traffic already in the roundabout.
- Watch for pedestrians and cyclists.
- Never stop within the roundabout.
- If an emergency vehicle is approaching, exit the roundabout before pulling over; do not stop inside the roundabout.
For information on roundabouts, visit https://www.rcocweb.org/374/roundabouts.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Oakland County's 45th roundabout opens. Here's where, why it's special
