It's been nearly two years since the completion of the Shawnee-Ft. Amanda Road Roundabout. The construction was meant to make traffic flow more efficient, but some statistics show they may not be the case.
In the 23 months prior to construction beginning at Shawnee and Ft. Amanda Road, 27 vehicle accidents occurred at the location. Since the completion of the roundabout, 61 vehicle accidents took place. Despite those numbers, Allen County Engineer Brion Rhodes reassures the public that the roundabout is performing as expected.
“It's moving traffic very efficiently. There's little to no back-ups," states Rhodes. "Because of that, the people in the area that use it on a daily basis report to me that they love it.”
When it comes to first responders for those accidents, the area became a sort of nuisance.
“It is a burden on our manpower and resources. There's no question about it. Nobody working here is really happy about that," says Shawnee Township Police Chief Mike Keith. "For one, for the expenses and costs of people involved in accidents. Two, for the manpower and resources we direct toward that.”
A common complaint regarding the roundabout concerns the structure, whether it is the radius of the total area, or the amount of lanes.
“We suggested one lane. A lot of our accidents are people changing lanes in the round about, which is not permitted. Doesn't stop the accident from occurring. And trucks and buses can't really stay in one lane making that shoulder curve,” states Chief Keith.
“We have over 22,000 cars running through that. You have to have two lanes running north and south. Otherwise, traffic moving East and West would never have a chance to actually get into the intersection. There wouldn't be a gap,” explains Rhodes.
Through a variety of differences and arguments, one common denominator remains, unfamiliar drivers.
“You have a combination of people that are unfamiliar with how they operate, and you have another aspect of people that are driving too aggressively. Between those two, you have some fender benders that happen,” says Rhodes.
Chief Keith says, "You can't change lanes in a roundabout. Vehicles in the roundabout have the right away. If they're in there, they have the right away.”
Rhodes stresses the best way to make the roundabout safe is to slow it down.
“If someone makes a mistake, because we all make mistakes, there's time to compensate for that.”
