New Kent Charles City Chronicle

News for New Kent County and Charles City County, Virginia | March 29, 2024

First NK roundabout in use

By Alan Chamberlain | April 23, 2008 11:56 am

The first of three roundabouts — what some refer to as traffic circles — under construction on Route 106 in New Kent County has opened to traffic. Highway engineers tout the design as an improvement for traffic flow at intersections, but not everyone is convinced.

Last week during the county’s Board of Supervisors meeting, board members heard the benefits of roundabouts as voiced by a state highway department engineer. The board also questioned safety factors, especially pertaining to trucks.

VDOT engineer Terry Knouse said statistics show roundabouts substantially reduce the number of vehicle accidents along with injuries and fatalities when compared to a traditional intersection.

Even though roundabouts are smaller in diameter than old-style traffic circles, tractor/trailers are able to negotiate the path thanks to truck aprons built in to the pavement on lane-splitter islands at roundabout entrances and the roundabout’s center circle, Knouse said. The aprons, he added, are raised above the pavement and resemble sidewalks, but are actually installed to improve the turning radius for trucks.

Knouse said it’s not uncommon for drivers unaccustomed to roundabouts to voice opposition. Most, he said, come around after a roundabout has been in place for a short time.

VDOT, meanwhile, is planning to modify the exit/entrance ramps at the Interstate 64 Talleysville (Route 106) interchange, converting both east and west into roundabouts. The Talleysville roundabouts will be the first on an interstate highway in Virginia.

Design work for a roundabout on the north or westbound side of I-64 has been approved, but no construction date has been set, Knouse said. Preliminary work for the south side (eastbound) interchange has not begun. No roundabouts are planned further south on Route 106.

Yield signs, replacing stop signs and stoplights, govern roundabouts. Drivers approaching must slow and yield to traffic already in a roundabout. Even though traffic flow is almost continuous, drivers exiting a roundabout should employ turn signals, VDOT officials say.

VDOT recommends that drivers making a right turn should keep to the right, activate the right turn signal, and keep the signal on until leaving the roundabout. For left or u-turns, keep to the left (left lane if roundabout is two lanes) and do not activate the right turn signal until just past the exit before the one the driver plans to take.

Drivers going straight ahead should keep to the right and also activate the right turn signal just past the exit before the one the driver plans to take.