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
