Plans for the roundabout in north Fayetteville.
Image: City of Fayetteville
Officials are planning a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the city’s first modern roundabout, a long-planned project set to be constructed near Washington Regional Medical center in north Fayetteville.
The event begins at 11 a.m. Tuesday, May 14 on the southeast corner of Futrall Drive and Northhills Boulevard, just off the Fulbright Expressway. Parking is available at the North Hills Medical Park near the McDonald Eye Associates building.
City officials are hoping the roundabout will improve access to the hospital and provide some congestion relief for the heavily trafficked surrounding area.
The roundabout will eliminate the four-way stop at Futrall and Northhills, an intersection that causes heavy traffic stacking along Futrall and Millsap Drive when vehicles begin entering and exiting Fulbright Expressway during peak hours.
Roundabouts are circular intersections with no stoplight in which traffic flows in one direction around a central island.
Jeremy Pate, city development services director, said a roundabout makes the most sense at this intersection.
“We have an off-ramp, an on-ramp, a hospital that employs a lot of people, and a great deal of traffic coming into this intersection,” said Pate in 2009.
“A lot of traffic studies have indicated that a roundabout with continuous movement is the most efficient manner in moving traffic in a situation like this,” he added.
City staff have said 80 percent of the costs for the estimated $3 million project will be paid from a federal earmark, with the other 20 percent coming from the city’s Transportation Bond Program.
Crews with Sweetser Construction will begin work on the roundabout later this month. Construction is scheduled to be completed in six to eight months.
Roundabout location
View North Fayetteville roundabout in a larger map
Roundabout? We need an on ramp from college avenue going north bound onto the Fullbright Expressway. I guess this is state funds though.
There is a planned flyover that will connect College Avenue to the westbound lanes of Fulbright Expressway. It includes an off-ramp by Olive Garden.
That’s flyover’s been planned for the last twenty years or so. It’s mythical at this point.
I believe it has actually been funded, and therefore not mythical. But, I’ll believe it to be a reality when they start construction.
I believe we voted for the flyover and the roundabout in the transportation bond issue that passed 6 or 7 years ago. All the state highway projects that we agreed to chip in for are still on the State’s timeline. Since we are helping to fund them we get a bit more public input and hopefully influence on the final design.
I’ve been looking forward to this. I sit in that 4 way traffic every day heading into WRMC, and this should be a big improvement.
I agree. I don’t use that intersection a lot, but it’s a big pain when I do if there are many people lined up at the stop signs. There are lots of people that hate on the idea of a roundabout, but I think it can work. I’m from Joplin, and if peeps up there can adjust to a roundabout, I bet that Fayettevillians can too.
Having lived in Conway while the town grew from one to four or five roundabouts, I’d say this is great. Roundabouts can take a little bit for people to get used to, but once everyone becomes comfortable with it, traffic woes should be reduced greatly!
Entrances to roundabouts are yield signs, so they can be entered pretty aggressively compared to the normal lethargy of traffic stateside. The normal hum of a European traffic circle is smaller cars coursing through tight spaces and everyone knows the score and plays nicely.
Cute how engineers think things work in theory.
Here in Pawnee, you’ll have two sheepish crossover drivers come to a complete stop, wave at each other to go, then move at the same time, rinse, and repeat. Meanwhile, a sedated 120-year-old on his way home from a colonoscopy will turn clockwise to make a left turn, and run into an office worker deep in a text message. Blues Brothers chase scene pileup ensues.
Bring a lawn chair and cooler, and sit in the middle. This will be fun.
+1 x 1000000000
Drivers here can’t be bothered to yield and signal under the best of circumstances. Add is a crazy circular thingamabob, and, well, I’ll meet you there with the popcorn.
I guess another stoplight would not save the taxpayers $3 million. Traffic will still be backed up from the intersection to Gregg St. everyday at rush hour. But hey, at least it will look pretty.
This area is such a mess. We need to do something to reduce the number of accidents on north Gregg, under the freeway.
In typical Arkansas fashion, this whole intersection wasn’t thought out very well. Remember when Gregg passed under US 71 but didn’t intersect? Then someone builds a frontage road. Then they build an off-ramp that’s too short. Then they put in a major hospital and really screw up the traffic.
A roundabout may help traffic coming off the expressway onto Futrall, but it WON’T help Gregg Ave. I can’t wait to see a speeding ambulance come off the highway and try to navigate the roundabout.
Knowing how people drive around Fayetteville, this is going to be a clustertruck. Anyone willing to take bets on how long it will be before someone goes the wrong way on the off-ramp and causes an accident?
If you look closely at the design, the Gregg-bound traffic from Fulbright Expwy won’t actually enter the roundabout. They’ll have a dedicated offramp, hairpin turn and then a yeild sign to enter Frontage/Milsap.
$3 million seems pretty steep for a roundabout.
On the other hand, that intersection already almost acts like a roundabout as busy as it is with people slowing and not stopping.
Amen ! Maybe the Chinese will pay for it, or at least send some crews…
Good thing this is so close to the hospital. The accident victims won’t have far to travel.
What about that “Shovel Ready” exit at Van Asche that was supposed to happen THREE YEARS AGO ??? (Like he one by the Naturals Stadium ???)
Modern roundabouts are the safest form of intersection in the world. Search http://www.iihs.org for FAQs and safety facts. The safety comes from the ‘slow and go’ operation instead of the ‘stop or go fast’ way a stop light works (or the ‘keep going fast’ large traffic circle fantasy). The smaller size of the modern roundabout is what makes them safer and keeps speeds in the 20 mph range. This makes it much easier to avoid a crash or stop for pedestrians. It also means that if a crash happens the likelihood of injury is very low. Safety is the #1 reason there are over 2,400 modern roundabouts in the US today and many more on the way.
Slow and go also means less delay than a stop light, especially the other 20 hours a day people aren’t driving to or from work. Average daily delay at a signal is around 12 seconds per car. At a modern roundabout average delay is less than five seconds. Signals take an hour of demand and restrict it to a half hour, at best only half the traffic gets to go at any one time. At a modern roundabout four drivers entering from four directions can all enter at the same time. Don’t try that with a signalized intersection.
Here’s a quote:
“By 2025, a quarter of all drivers in the United States will be over the age of 65. Intersections are the single most dangerous traffic environment for drivers of any age with left-hand turns being the single most dangerous traffic maneuver that any of us can make. Forty percent of all crashes that involve drivers over the age of 65 occur at intersections. This is nearly twice the rate of experienced younger drivers. AARP would like to see more roundabouts constructed because of the many safety benefits that they present for drivers of all ages.” – Jana Lynott, AARP Public Policy Institute
come on people it is just a roundabout not an excise tax on leeks and Japanese turnips at the Farmers Market. They have these things in Bentonville and Rogers (as well as free parking) and it is fine
Roundabouts are the future. Once everyone gets the hang of it traffic will cruise through it very efficiently.
OK, I can’t take it anymore. Theme music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Tdu4uKSZ3M
Also, prepare yourself for a lifetime of “Look kids! Big Ben! Parliament!” jokes.
If you want to see the difference between a traffic circle, a rotary (UK roundabout) and a modern roundabout, search http://www.k-state.edu to see pictures. The FHWA has a video about modern roundabouts that is mostly accurate (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhHzly_6lWM ).
How exactly is it Fayetteville’s first roundabout when there has been one in the sub-division east of Owl Creek for 5+ years now?
I suppose emergency vehicles can negotiate this in heavy traffic.
I never had road rage before I moved to this area. Y’all need to learn to drive, srsly it’s cray cray up in here.