Internationally, roundabouts are a common road configuration. As time has passed, they have increasingly become an option in the United States as an attempt to slow traffic and utilize limited road space. Recently, more of them are showing up in Minnesota. Recently, there has been discussions about adding one to County Road 14, or 75th Street Northwest in Rochester. In the last five years that area has seen 24 crashes and is ranked as one of the most accident-prone areas in southeastern Minnesota.
I recently drive on the couple out near Hutchinson, the one in Edina and regularly drive the one in Sartell. They look good and once people get the hang of them, they should meet their goals. Federal studies have shown that roundabouts drop the number of overall crashes by 35 percent and the number of injury crashes by 76 percent.
Hopefully, as more people use them we will all see the benefits. With more roundabouts coming to the surrounding counties it will be something that more Minnesotans will need to get used to. The New York Transportation Department has posted a number of very helpful animations as to how to best use these changes. Simply getting used to slowing down should help, as reaction times will be longer and most impacts should be less severe
