The director of engineering for the City of Sault Ste. Marie says traffic roundabouts could be in the cards for the municipality at some point down the road, but as of right now, there are no formal plans in the works.
Don Elliott recently said the Sault could see roundabouts in the “not-so-distant future” when asked about them by a city councilor during a council meeting earlier this month. SooToday followed up with him this week for clarification.
“We’re not formally looking at any intersections at the present time, but as we reconstruct things and demands come up and we need to make improvements to certain intersections, that’s when we would consider them,” Elliott said.
The potential for traffic roundabouts is something that’s been explored by the city before: the municipality’s own transportation master plan from 2015 addresses the pros and cons of using them as alternatives to four-way stops and traffic signals.
Elliott says one of the advantages to roundabouts would be the reduced costs in having no traffic lights.
“There’s no traffic signals, there’s no controls. It’s really just roadworks - curbs, asphalt and signage,” he said.
Some data suggests that roundabouts are also safer than other forms of traditional intersections. According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in the United States, roundabouts have reduced collisions by 35 per cent, reduced injuries by 76 per cent and have reduced fatalities by 90 per cent.
When compared to intersections with a two-way stop, the FHWA reports that roundabouts have led to an 82 per cent decrease in fatal collisions and collisions with injuries, and a 78 per cent decrease in fatal collisions and collisions causing injury when compared to an intersection with traffic signals.
The FHWA also reports that typical intersections contain 32 'potential vehicle conflict points.' With roundabouts, there are only eight.
“The type of accidents you have at roundabouts, they tend to be less severe, because people are going slower,” said Elliott. “In a roundabout, in most situations, people are generally going in the same direction.”
But they tend to be tricky for pedestrians, Elliott says, meaning that pedestrian access for any roundabout must be carefully planned.
There are also costs associated with the sheer size of roundabouts, from potentially acquiring property to construction.
“Because they take up more room, there’s usually more construction costs,” said Elliott. “Your initial capital cost will be higher than a typical intersection - but clearly, if it replaces signals, then there’s a long-term operational cost that you don’t have.”
Roundabout a more efficient all-way stop, local driving instructor says
Marty Fremlin doesn’t spend a lot of time teaching new drivers in Sault Ste. Marie about roundabouts, in large part because there’s nowhere to practice locally. But the driving instructor (and trainer of driving instructors) at Young Drivers of Canada says that he looked at a couple of studies on roundabouts when the city had previously explored the possibility of using them, and believes they could move traffic quicker.
Fremlin sees roundabouts as a more efficient all-way stop.
“I think once the learning curve is over it will probably be, in the long run, quicker and safer,” he said.
While Fremlin has experienced a fairly simple roundabout that worked well in Lancaster, Ont., a double-lane roundabout in upstate New York seemed to confound motorists.
“I’ve been in one in Syracuse where people seem to be in there for the trip - round and round they went, but they couldn’t figure out how to get out,” he said. “But if you follow the principles of the roundabout, it’s very simple.”
'It was one of those topics that people were just kind of bashing on us about,' says Sault Michigan mayor
In 2019, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. opened its own roundabout where the I-75 Business Spur intersects 3 Mile Road and South Mackinac Trail.
Mayor Don Gerrie says the change was initially met with some pessimism.
“Before we built it, I think there was a lot of concern, and we as a commission received a lot of outreach that wasn’t real positive about the change,” said Gerrie. “It was one of those topics that people were just kind of bashing on us about.
“After it was built, and I think after people have been using it, it’s been really a pretty smooth transition, I think,” he continued. “People have learned how to use it, it keeps traffic flowing smoothly, a little slower - and roundabouts are supposed to decrease the incidents of higher-speed accidents, they’re supposed to be a safer alternative. It’s something the State of Michigan has really subscribed to.”
Sault Michigan is also looking at a construction project with two smaller roundabouts on Easterday Avenue at Ashmun Street, which could begin within the next two years as roundabouts become more and more prevalent throughout Michigan.
“I know there are a lot of people that don’t like them, but overall, I think the transition’s been very positive as people learn to use them,” he said.
Two Sault intersections once considered for roundabout revamp
Back on the other side of the border, the City of Sault Ste. Marie has looked at the idea of installing roundabouts at two intersections in recent memory as part of environmental assessments.
One was the intersection of St. George’s Avenue and McNabb, which was deemed a safety issue by the city.
“We changed the number of lanes there, we reconfigured the intersection - and one of the options under the environmental assessment was a roundabout, but it was ruled out,” Elliott said.
The other one could’ve been at Second Line East and Old Garden River Road.
“Because people wanted us to consider it, we did consider a roundabout at Old Garden River Road and Second Line. It was determined that that wasn’t a good place to try the first roundabout - it’s four lanes,” said Elliott. “We decided not to.”
Elliott says there’s criteria to be met in order to install a roundabout in the municipality, including:
- Increased traffic leading to need for traffic lights at an intersection
- History of speeding and collisions at an intersection
- High volume entrances, such as entrances to colleges and universities
“We consider them when we’re doing environmental assessments,” Elliott said. “I think we’re going to see them at some point.”