Some Grand Forks residents are running in circles - literally - because of the city’s first roundabout, which opened to traffic recently at 24th Avenue South and South 34th Street.

Grace McNally, who lives near the roundabout, said she has seen people who have “no idea what they’re doing” in the roundabout, including one man “going around in a circle over and over with this really confused look on his face.”

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Roundabouts are an intersection in which traffic flows in one direction counterclockwise around a center island. There are no traffic signals, just yield signs for those entering the intersection.

“You have people who just sit there,” McNally said. “Then there are other people who just go and don’t use the yields.”

John Bernstrom, a communication specialist for the city, said he hadn’t seen any problems with the roundabout yet, but that he had posted an instructional video on roundabouts to Facebook.

The video came in response to Facebook comments from residents who were concerned people did not know how to use the roundabout.

A safer option

Though roundabouts have existed in the United States since the early 1900s, they were few and far between

Many were so poorly designed it made them inefficient and unsafe, according to a 2007 study conducted by the Transportation Research Board.

A new roundabout model was developed in the United Kingdom in the 1960s to remedy those problems, but did not gain traction in the U.S. until the 1990s.

In the past decade, entire conferences have been dedicated to the roundabout with session topics including how to conduct campaigns to educate the public on their use and pedestrian safety.

Since overcoming their rocky start, roundabouts have been shown to reduce traffic congestion and lower the potential for crashes.

“The data is pretty overwhelming,” said Traffic Engineer Mike Bittner, who works in West Fargo at the civil engineering firm Kadrmas, Lee & Jackson. “It’s a dramatic reduction in crashes when you implement a roundabout at a formerly two-way traffic intersection.”

That 2007 study, which the Federal Highway Administration describes as the “most comprehensive and recent study” on the subject, found total crashes fell by 35 percent when switching to a roundabout. The study also showed total crashes with injuries fell by 76 percent.

Another roundabout

Another roundabout is planned in Grand Forks as part of the new elementary school development on the south end, said Principal Engineer Matt Yavarow.

When considering whether to put in a roundabout, Yavarow said he looks at traffic flow - how many cars go through the intersection and how long it takes them to pass through - and crash history there. Typically, a roundabout is effective on roads that connect residential roads to large, arterial roads, he said.

Yavarow said he suspects some people may struggle with the roundabout because “it’s something new.”

McNally encouraged the city to share more instructional videos to educate residents.

“I’m just hoping people can get the hang of it soon,” she said.

When approaching a roundabout, drivers should slow down, look to their left and yield to traffic in the roundabout, according to the Federal Highway Administration.

Once a gap opens up in traffic, drivers may enter the circle and proceed to their exit without stopping, the agency advises.

More On the web: To read the 2007 Transportation Research Board roundabout study, visit bit.ly/1p61Ms1