Dayton, Ohio will be getting three new roundabouts as a part of the highway safety improvement program to cut down on fatal crashes.
Gov. Mike DeWine recently approved over $80 million in state funding to go towards constructing safer intersections across the state, with 19 total roundabouts being built across Ohio.
“Roundabouts tend to slow down vehicles and pretty much eliminate the ‘T-bone’ crashes because people are not coming in at 90-degree angles at each other,” said Paul Gruner a Montgomery County Engineer.
Ohio has seen 104 deaths so far in 2024, and roughly 30% of all traffic related deaths in the state are from crashes in intersections.
The Siebenthaler Avenue and Catalpa Drive intersection ranks third in crash frequency and second in crash rate for all intersections in Montgomery County from 2020 to 2022.
“Sixty-seven crashes over five years and 35% or so of those have some sort of injury. So it was definitely in need of something," said Gruner.
A study done by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) showed that roundabouts reduce crashes by 44%, and deadly crashes by 90%.
“Just an engineering standpoint, there are 32 collision points at a normal intersection. And what that means is there are 32 different places within that intersection where vehicles could collide with each other For a roundabout, it’s eight,” said Matt Bruning, Ohio Department of Transportation press secretary.
Construction is expected to start in 2030, but according to Gruner, construction could begin earlier if all the pre-construction work gets done ahead of schedule.
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Source: WDTN Dayton, Dayton 247 Now
