The city of Conway started construction of a roundabout at Donaghey and Prince early January. It expects to complete it this April or May as part of a larger project to improve traffic and safety on Donaghey Avenue.
Just north of UCA campus, a section of Prince is closed while the city road crew converts the signalized intersection to a roundabout.
The Donaghey Avenue Improvements project, which started with the roundabout at Donaghey College Avenues, also includes plans for a roundabout at Donaghey and Caldwell, according to Kurt Jones, director of the Conway Department of Transportation.
“The biggest benefit that we get out of roundabouts is improved safety,” Jones said. “Even in situations where they don’t have a huge benefit in traffic flow, they have a huge benefit in traffic safety.”
Federal Highway Administration studies “indicated that roundabouts result in a 90% reduction in fatalities, a 76% reduction in injuries and a 35% reduction in all crashes compared to other types of intersections,” Jones said.
Roundabouts aren’t just a safety measure, though.
“Generally, a roundabout will increase the capacity and function of an existing signalized intersection,” Jones said. “In almost every situation, there’s a significant increase in the actual level of service of that intersection.”
Three roundabouts on Donaghey Avenue, in conjunction with the corridor of roundabouts on Prince Street, will improve traffic flow in the area northeast of campus, in addition to making it a much safer area to drive or walk in.
“When you use roundabouts in that situation, where they’re not just a stand-alone roundabout, they actually have an even larger benefit in keeping traffic flowing down that corridor,” Jones said.
“You’ve probably been in situations where you’ve seen like, you hit every red light along a stretch of signals,” Jones said. “With the roundabouts, you don’t; that’s not an issue.”
Many UCA students live in the areas surrounding campus or commute to class and would benefit from increased safety and function of the intersections near campus.
Roundabouts also save the city of Conway a significant amount of money every year.
The Donaghey and Prince construction will be the 33rd full-size roundabout in Conway, while the city maintains “around 66” signal lights, Jones said.
“Last year, on maintenance on our traffic signals, we spent over $300,000,” Jones said. “Do you know how much we spent on our roundabouts?”
“We don’t even track it because, I mean, we don’t spend anything on it,” Jones said. “I would guess if I had to put a number to it I would say we’ve spent less than $10,000 … just on mowing and watering, and we do all that in-house.”
Signal lights require normal maintenance and repairs. They can malfunction and vehicles can hit them.
Last year, there “were a couple [signal lights] that needed complete rewires,” which was part of the reason for the $300,000 maintenance bill, Jones said, adding that figuring out the timing of each intersection and dialing in the system is a costly and timely process.
Roundabouts also continue to function during power outages.
The total cost of the Donaghey-Prince roundabout won’t be known until it’s complete, but the average full size roundabout costs the city of Conway about $800,000, according to Jones.