HARRISBURG, Pa. — A new data report by PennDOT reportedly shows decreased crashes at newly placed roundabouts.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced today that according to department data, fatalities, injuries and crashes have overall decreased after intersections at 39 locations were replaced with roundabouts.
“PennDOT is continuing its work to identify and implement innovations and best practices across Pennsylvania,” PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll. “I’m proud to see that the data on roundabouts remains consistent on saving lives and reducing crash severity.”
PennDOT reviewed data for 36 single-lane and six multi-lane roundabouts on state routes at intersections that were previously controlled by a stop sign or signal.
The intersections were selected based on having at least three years of crash data available before and after the roundabouts were built.
Department data from 2003 through 2022 obtained from police-submitted crash reporters were weighted based on the number of before and after years, but not for increases in traffic volume shows that crashes involving suspected serious injuries were reduced by 24%; crashes involving suspected non-serious injuries were reduced by 51%; and the total number of crashes were reduced by 3%.
Although roundabouts are frequently installed to address intersections with safety issues, they are also commonly installed to improve traffic flow or for other reasons such as traffic calming.
The seven new roundabouts included in this review are at the following intersections:
- Berks County:
- Route 73 and Lynx Drive, opened in 2019.
- Route 73 and Oley Road, opened in 2019.
- Bucks County:
- Route 4049 (Tollgate Road) and Old Bethlehem Pike, opened in 2019.
- Crawford County:
- Route 6/322 and Route 19/98, opened in 2019.
- Cumberland County:
- Route 2017 (Lisburn Road) and Rossmoyne Road, opened in 2019.
- Luzerne County:
- Route 2008 (Middle Road) and Prospect Street, opened in 2019.
- Wyoming County:
- Route 1017 (College Ave.) and Edwards Lane, opened in 2019.
To educate Pennsylvanians on how to navigate a roundabout, the department created a video on how to use both single and multi-lane roundabouts whether in a vehicle, on a bicycle or on foot. The video can be accessed by visiting the roundabout page on www.penndot.gov or by visiting the department’s YouTube channel.
