Community Corner
Data Says Roundabouts Are Quicker, Safer; Should Oakdale Build Some?
According to data collected by the Minnesota Department of Transportation, roundabouts reduce fatalities by 90 percent because vehicles are forced to slow down as they approach intersections.
Oakdale doesn't have any roundabouts right now, but that could change in the future.
According to a St. Paul Pioneer Press article by Bob Shaw, which cites the Minnesota Department of Transportation, roundabouts make intersections much safer by reducing fatalities by 90 percent. Even as the intersection is safer, traffic continues to move and fewer vehicles are forced to queue up waiting for their turn.
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"The data show that they are the safest intersections we have," said Ken Johnson, a roundabout expert at MnDOT. ... No one has proved a connection, but fatalities started falling four years ago, which is about when the state's roundabout building binge began. ... Besides safety, the other primary advantage of roundabouts is speed.
During rush hours, MnDOT's Johnson said, cars travel through roundabouts an average of 10 seconds faster. In nonpeak hours, traffic slows only slightly at a roundabout instead of making a full stop at a red light, night or day.
Find out what's happening in Oakdalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Though there aren't any roundabouts in Oakdale, just across the freeway the City of Woodbury has nearly a dozen either already built, in the works or planned. Other nearby communities also have them, including Stillwater with one, Lake Elmo with one and Lakeland with three.
What do you think of roundabouts? Should Oakdale have them? Tell us in the comments.