ODOT official tries to ease roundabout fears
Dec. 3—The public was invited to attend an open house wherein the Oklahoma Department of Transportation addressed the much-anticipated and rather controversial U.S. Highway 62/State Highway 82 roundabouts.
ODOT District 1 Engineer Chris Wallace said the "three-legged roundabout" will improve safety and traffic flow at the intersection. The rationale is the need to alleviate congestion issues that arise when drivers have to sit through two or three cycles of the traffic lights during rush hour in the morning and afternoons.
"Roundabouts are a common intersection type that have been shown to reduce traffic delays and improve safety," ODOT stated on its website.
There have been 25 documented vehicle crashes at the intersection since 2013, and 72% of those could had traffic congestion as a contributing factor.
Several people have taken to social media to express their concerns with the projected roundabouts, and many pertained to the larger vehicles that go through the intersection. Some discontented locals even threatened to cause disruptions to force closure of the roundabouts.
Wallace explained that semi-trucks have no issues using the roundabout, and the speed limit there would be 25 mph.
Eric Michael, a semi-truck driver, said roundabouts are easy to navigate in the much larger vehicles, and it's a system those drivers use every day, all over the country.
April Ward insisted the roundabouts are a "horrible idea," because many the vehicles going through the intersection are carrying livestock.
"The size of the [roundabouts] are built to accommodate them," Wallace said.
Violet Davis-Ellis asked what happens if an emergency vehicle needs to pass.
"They turn on their sirens and they go," Wallace said. "There's two lanes the whole way around and they can even drive on [the brick portion of the roundabout]."
Construction is slated to begin in either late February or early March, and Wallace said is should be completed in April or May.
"Now there's two things happening; we're building all of this, but what we're also going to do is resurface all the way up to where Southridge Road is. When they built the casino they did some resurface work on the highway, and we're going to tie into that," Wallace said.
Later on, they will resurface the road up to the intersection at U.S. Highway 62 and the Bertha Parker Bypass.
The center of the roundabout will include space for potential enhancements by the city of Tahlequah and Cherokee Nation. Examples include landscaping, signage, or public art, for which community input is encouraged.
The intersection will be closed to turning traffic during construction, but two temporary detours will be used. One lane in each direction will be open, using the westbound lanes, and a temporary signal will be placed at the southeast detour. Those will be removed when construction is complete.
Pavement overlay on U.S. 62 from the intersection north of Willis Road will also be included in the project.
