Intersection will replace stop signs with yield signs
By DON BEHM Posted: Sept. 17, 2003
Beginning Thursday, vehicles will not be required to come to a complete stop at the intersection of Highway G and Paradise Driveon the city's southeast side.
The traditional four-corner crossing has been replaced with a one-way circular path known as a roundabout.
It is the first roundabout in Washington County. The counterclockwise circle will open to traffic about 10:30 a.m. Thursday after a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony, Highway Commissioner Ken Pesch said.
Buteyn-Peterson Construction Co. Inc. of Sheboygan completed work on the roundabout five days ahead of schedule, Pesch said. The crossing was to be closed through Sept. 22.
Drivers entering the intersection will encounter yield signs, and all exits are to the right.
"Everybody should slow down to between 15 and 20 miles per hour," Pesch recommended.
"You should only have to look over your left-hand shoulder as you enter, and yield to cars in the roundabout," he said. "It will be similar to entering a freeway from an on-ramp."
As always, motorists are required to yield the right of way to pedestrians in crosswalks on each approach to the circle.
Commuters eastbound on Paradise Drive who want to turn north on Highway G can no longer simply turn left. Instead, they will be ushered three-fourths of the way around the circle, past southbound G and eastbound Paradise Drive, before turning right onto northbound G.
What if you miss the exit?
"You go around one more time," Pesch said.
In rebuilding the intersection, Pesch chose a roundabout rather than a more costly traditional crossroads with traffic signals and turn lanes. Buteyn-Peterson was awarded a $378,346 contract to build the project.
"I'm convinced the roundabout will be safer," he said.
One reason is the absence of traffic signals. Drivers will not have to worry about another motorist running a red light, he said.
"And the roundabout is built so you can't safely drive it at more than 20 miles per hour," Pesch said. "So, everyone going in or going out will be going about the same speed."
His opinion is supported by research studies in the United States and Europe, where roundabouts are referred to as rotaries.
Two years ago, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported that roundabouts can reduce injury-producing crashes by 80% and significantly reduce traffic delays, when compared with intersections equipped with stop signs or signal lights.
The Federal Highway Administration, in a design guide published in 2000, says the absence of left turns across traffic eliminates the potential for head-on crashes.
Lower speeds also give drivers more time to react to potential conflicts with other vehicles, the highway administration says.
West Bend is the seventh community in eastern Wisconsin to create such a circular path for motorists.
Milwaukee, Okauchee, Sheboygan and three municipalities in Brown County - the Village of Howard, City of De Pere and Town of Ledgeview - also have built roundabouts in recent years.
More than 100 roundabouts are being built or designed in the U.S. this year, according to the Insurance Institute for Traffic Safety. Maryland and Washington are leading the pack. Maryland has constructed 45 since 1993. Washington has built 39 since 1997, and that figure is expected to double within five years.
