The city of Green is in the middle of building its latest roundabout with plans to build about six more within five years.
“We have plenty of intersections that have a lot of traffic,” said Green Mayor Gerard Neugebauer. “ People have been asking us for years to relieve the traffic.”
Green currently has five roundabouts in the city and is in the middle of constructing another at State Route 619 and Myersville Road. The city plans to add at least six more roundabouts in about five years.
“We know there’s typically about a 40 percent reduction in accidents,” said Neugebauer. “We know there’s about 75 percent reduction in serious injuries.”
Green has welcomed the roundabouts, citing a decrease in traffic accidents. In a four-year span between 2010 and 2014, before the placement of the roundabout at Lauby Road near the Akron-Canton Airport, 40 accidents occurred at the intersection. Following the placement of the roundabout between 2015 and 2019, the city said only eight accidents occurred in the area.
The Federal Highway Administration reports the number of conflict points where an accident can happen at a single lane roundabout stands at eight --- compared to 32 at a traditional intersection.
“You’re building a product that moves people more efficiently,” Neugebauer said. “It saves their time in travel, it saves in gasoline and it makes a safer travel environment. That’s really what we want to provide to citizens.”
Neugebauer adds there are multiple factors that go into adding a roundabout. The city looks at whether or not a traffic light can be installed at a particular intersection. The city said the intersection of 619 and Myersville Road, an area that the city said has seen multiple injury-related crashes, does not meet the requirements needed to install a traffic light. The roundabout is expected to be completed by August 20.
Click here to read more about the roundabout plans in the city of Green.