PennDOT: Roundabouts reducing fatalities, injuries and crashes

Sep. 21—PennDOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian Tuesday said PennDOT continues to see that Pennsylvania's roundabouts save lives and reduce crash severity,

"While they aren't the right option in every intersection, we're pleased that they help to make our roadways safer," Gramian said.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced that according to department data, fatalities, injuries and crashes decreased overall after intersections at 33 locations that were replaced with 36 roundabouts.

PennDOT recently reviewed data for 36 roundabouts on state routes at intersections that were previously stop or signal controlled. These roundabouts were selected based on having at least three years of crash data available before and after the roundabouts were built. This accounts for a total of 387 before years and 220 after years of data.

Department data from 2002 through 2021 — based on police-submitted crash reports and weighted based on the number of before and after years, but not for increases in traffic volume — shows the following:

—Suspected serious injuries were reduced by 76%.

—Suspected minor injuries were reduced by 22%.

—Possible/unknown severity injuries were reduced by 70%.

—Total number of crashes decreased by 9%.

Unfortunately, PennDOT said there was one fatality in one of the roundabouts — however, there were a combined three fatalities prior to the installation of roundabouts at the 33 locations.

In addition to the 36 roundabouts meeting the selection criteria, 38 other roundabouts have been built on state routes with 16 more under construction and 15 in final design.

The roundabouts included in the review are at the following Luzerne County intersections:

—I-81 Exit 178, Airport Road interchange (three roundabouts), opened in 2015.

—Route 2008 (Middle Road) and Espy Street, opened in 2017.

—Route 415, Church Street, Lake Street and Main Street, opened in 2018.

—Route 2008 (Middle Road) and Kosciuszko Street, opened in 2018.

PennDOT says roundabouts are frequently installed to address intersections with safety issues, but may also be installed to improve traffic flow as well as other reasons such as traffic calming, and to facilitate pedestrian mobility.

Although roundabouts are safer and typically more efficient than traditional signalized intersections, PennDOT said they may not always be the best option due to topography or other reasons, such as property impacts, capacity issues and proximity to other intersections.

Roundabouts are recognized by the Pennsylvania State Transportation Innovation Council (STIC) as an innovation that has become standard practice within the transportation community. The Pennsylvania STIC facilitates the rapid implementation of proven, well-researched and documented state, regional, national and international technologies, tactics, techniques and other innovations that are new to Pennsylvania. The STIC also supports the implementation of the Federal Highway Administration's Every Day Counts (EDC) innovations.

To educate Pennsylvanians on how to navigate a roundabout, the department created a video on how to use both single and multi-lane roundabouts whether in a vehicle, on a bicycle or on foot. The video can be accessed by visiting the roundabout page on PennDOT's website, or by visiting the department's YouTube channel.

Subscribe to statewide PennDOT news and traffic alerts at — www.penndot.pa.gov/news — or choose a region under "Regional Offices."

Information about the state's infrastructure and results the department is delivering for Pennsylvanians can be found at — www.penndot.pa.gov/results.

Find PennDOT's planned and active construction projects at — www.projects.penndot.gov.

Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.