Mayor Lioneld Jordan speaks during the roundabout groundbreaking ceremony held Tuesday morning in north Fayetteville.
Photos: Todd Gill, Flyer staff
The first of three planned projects designed to address traffic problems in north Fayetteville began this week.
Several city officials and other involved parties officially broke ground on Fayetteville’s first modern roundabout during a ceremony held near the main entrance of Washington Regional Medical Center Tuesday morning.
The long-planned project will eliminate the four-way stop at the intersection of Futrall Drive and Northhills Boulevard. The area, located just north of the hospital, sees heavy traffic flow during peak hours when vehicles begin entering and exiting Fulbright Expressway.
A roundabout, officials say, is the safest way to relieve traffic congestion while improving access to the hospital and surrounding area.
Source: City of Fayetteville
“According to the Federal Highway Administration, the primary characteristics of a modern roundabout reduce many of the safety hazards of traditional intersections,” said Mayor Lioneld Jordan during the ceremony.
Citing federal traffic study data, Jordan said roundabouts have 90 percent fewer fatalities, 76 percent less injuries and see a 35 percent reduction in all crashes when compared to typical intersections.
“The only movement at an entry and exit of a roundabout is a right turn,” said Jordan, “thus reducing the potential frequency and severity of accidents.”
City Council members Adella Gray, Justin Tennant and Bobby Ferrell said they were happy to see construction finally begin.
“We talk a lot about downtown Fayetteville projects, and rightfully so,” said Tennant. “Downtown is the cultural heartbeat of our city, but when you talk about the economic engine that drives this city, that’s right here.”
Gray said she was most excited about the mechanics of the project. “I’ve always tried to avoid this intersection when I could, but I won’t need to avoid it anymore,” she said.
Eighty percent of the costs for the $3 million roundabout will come from a 2006 federal earmark appropriation for the Fayetteville Expressway Economic Development Corridor. The remaining 20 percent will be paid for using funds from the city’s Transportation Bond Program.
“Today is a great day for Fayeteville,” said Ferrell, who also serves as chairman of the council’s Street Committee, “but there’s much more to come.”
The two other planned projects for the economic development corridor include a flyover connecting northbound College Avenue traffic to the westbound lanes of the Fulbright Expressway and an extension and widening project on Van Asche Drive between Gregg and Garland avenues.
Construction on the roundabout will begin this month and is set to be complete in six to eight months.
Fayetteville Expressway Economic Development Corridor
The goal of this project is to improve accessibility to the developing land surrounding the Fulbright Expressway, Interstate 540, and College Avenue from Millsap Street to Zion Road, including the Northwest Arkansas Mall, Steele Crossing/CMN Business Park Area, Washington Regional Medical Center and adjacent medical offices.
This project has been identified as a High Priority Project under the Federal Highway Bill known as SAFETEA-LU, and the City expects to receive approximately $7.66 million in federal funding. The City must provide matching funds in the amount of 20%, or $1.91 million, making the total funds available for the project $9.57 million.
Source: City of Fayetteville
More photos
Groundbreaking ceremony
Ward 3 Alderman Justin Tennant
Ward 1 Alderwoman Adella Gray
Ward 3 Alderman Bobby Ferrell
Mayor Lioneld Jordan
IT’S A CONSPIRACY! THE SIGN BEHIND THE MAYOR SAYS “STOP”!!!
You’re going to have people going the wrong way on the 71 Bypass because they won’t know how to drive in the Roundabout. It’s not rocket science, but you have to be able to think, which too many drivers seem to be incapable of doing.
Yes I agree.
If Northerners can figure it out, we can too.
that is a very rude comment – I am a Northern and damn proud of it. I have come to the conclustion that people with HOG anything on their vehicles do not know how to drive.
You’re a northerner? I’m surprised you picked up on the insult.
They do call them road HOGS, not road YANKEES…
Im surprised you can drive at all with that carpetbag in your lap.
Ha ha, great call No Name. Add C to the list of folks who move here then immediately develop a litany of reasons the place they moved from was superior but they seem unable or unwilling to return.
Neato. Hardly seems worthy of that many shovels and that many speakers, though.
The flyover will reduce a ton of traffic on Futrall, because so many people turn left from college onto Futrall and then go down to gregg, under the freeway, in order to get on the bypass, all in order to avoid the hideous intersection at Joyce.
I think the roundabout is a good idea. It will improve traffic in that area. I am concerned that many will have a hard time figuring it out. I base this on how many people in Fayetteville comment that they are not able to figure how to pay for parking on Dickson.
Yes I totally agree.
Most folks are going for some kind of medical service in that area..Lot of Newbies and older people i predict wrecks
I would agree lots of them.
City money to the tune of $600,000.00 wasted on a roundabout come on Jordan bunch all of my intelligent friends with posts on this page have posed strong arguments why we should NOT build a 3 MILLION dollar roundabout. This will be one more of Jordan’s DISASTERS!
Haha, i hope the city is installing bleachers and putting a popcorn machine up next to it, cause this is gonna be a show.
Three million dollars is a hefty toll to design, engineer, and build a fairly simple intersection where little additional land and no signal hardware is necessary. The 2007 study figures $1.5 million for the roundabout. At double the estimated cost, I hope none of the very worthwhile projects in the target area are delayed or sacrificed for an aesthetic show piece.
Yeah, it just sounds really expensive for one small intersection project.
Given the amount of traffic that intersection carries, the extensive road relocation and repaving beyond the intersection itself, and the fact that because it is the terminus of a freeway exit, part of it must be built to limited-access highway standards, I would hardly call this intersection either “simple” or “little”.
If they can have roundabouts in Mexico (the land of virtually zero car insurance) and maintain it safely, we can have a roundabout in Fayetteville, AR.
What’s going to happen is people will be confused by it. Those who are confused will either a) avoid it or b) approach it slowly and watch how it works as they enter. I would imagine old folks who are unwilling to change and adapt will most likely avoid it. Those who enter it will leave it and never return.
I welcome and embrace our new roundabout overlords.
I also suspect that this intersection will be pretty drama-free, despite the doomsday predictions. People adapt and learn. As with the parking meters…use it once, figure it out. It’s disheartening (yet sometimes entertaining) to see people believe so strongly in the stupidity of others or fight to say that “northerners” or “southerners” are so truly different. I don’t understand why there is so much resistance to change.
We don unerstayan how to use them kind of thangs. When I drive my wide load packup truck down Zion Rd from Lowes a headed east toward Crossover, ah alays likes to hog the center line because ah am jes a good old boy from Arkinsaw and that the way we do thangs here. Rayondabayout, what is that anyway. Mah sposed to be able to unerstan that yall.
IT’S JUST A TRAFFIC ROTARY!!! The rest of the country and world use them because they are so damn efficient and safe. If you’re scared, move back to booneville and buy a horse!
You are missing the point. It is an excuse to complain and lay blame. Do not try to stop us or take us seriously.
The FHWA has a video about modern roundabouts that is mostly accurate (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhHzly_6lWM ).
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
that sounds complecated to me.
It’s easier than spelling.
“Slow and go?” I have a light, short-wheelbase RWD car with a Torsen diff and kidney-jarring suspension upgrades. The way I butcher this intersection without lifting may bust a few AARP metrics.
20MPH. *Snort.*
Hopefully it will encourage folks to PAY ATTENTION AND GET OFF YOUR **** CELL PHONE! Although based on the heavy usage rates I observe especially in movie theaters, we apparently are the world’s foremost destination for 24/7 on-call heart/brain surgeons, rocket scientists and national security advisors.
There are some cool videos out there that explain how to use one correctly. Here’s one now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MywmtskFiiI