The intersection of Dallas Highway and Punkintown Road on Villa Rica’s north side has long been a traffic-clogged area. The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is proposing to change that with installation of a mini-roundabout.
The concept will be proposed to the Villa Rica City Council at its June 30, 2016 meeting. If the Council agrees, GDOT has agreed to upgrade the intersection on its dime as a quick response project and install the mini-roundabout by yearend. GDOT modelling shows installation of a mini-roundabout should reduce delays by 68 percent for those travelling north on Dallas Highway (SR61) and 63 percent for those going south on Dallas Highway.
The intersection is currently governed by a three-way stop and right-hand turn lane on Punkintown Road. At the city manager’s urging, GDOT evaluated the intersection for a traffic signals but found the intersection does not sustain minimum traffic counts to justify a traffic light.
GDOT policy requires consideration of roundabouts for existing intersections that have been identified as needing major safety or operational improvements. Mini-roundabouts have proven to be significantly safer than traffic signals and operate more efficiently than three-way stops. In fact, before and after studies by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) of 55 intersections where roundabouts were installed throughout the United States found a:
35% overall decrease in crashes;
76% decrease in injury crashes
81% decrease in fatal/incapacitating crashes for single lane urban roundabouts; and a
71% decrease in fatal/incapacitating crashes for single lane rural roundabouts.
For more information on mini-roundabouts, please visit http://goo.gl/TJ2M7r
Additional information on roundabouts in Georgia is available at http://goo.gl/Euf1ZN
Video of Dallas Highway (SR61) and Punkintown Road: https://goo.gl/bbR7XZ
Video of recent Mini-Roundabout upgrade to Hwy 16 and Hwy 5 intersection in Whitesburg: https://goo.gl/jXgvR7
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David A. Milliron, Villa Rica City Manager
571 W. Bankhead Hwy, Villa Rica, GA 30180
(678) 840-1211 | [email protected]
