Once considered the domain of other countries, particularly the United Kingdom, traffic roundabouts are now slowly coming to an intersection near you.
While the roundabout experience for Barrie drivers is currently limited to the Park Place commercial district, and a traffic circle at The Queensway in the city’s south end, Simcoe County has already developed a handful with plans to create more in coming years.
Barrie has a few on the books in its plans, too, to get ahead of specific issues before the anticipated growth in population complicates them further, but they’re years away.
“Roundabouts are commonplace across Europe and are becoming more common in Ontario as they represent an effective long-term solution for intersection improvements - increasing safety and capacity at lower overall maintenance costs,” explained Julie Scruton, manager of transportation construction for the County of Simcoe.
Poplar Sideroad (County Road 32) and High Street in Collingwood have long had roundabouts. Last year, another was constructed at County Road 93 and Vindin Street and Golf Link Road in Penetanguishene and Midland.
There are plans to also introduce a series of them to Horseshoe Valley as well as Innisfil and Essa and Springwater townships.
“Roundabouts have been selected by the county in these instances due to their numerous advantages over traditional intersections, including: reduced potential for serious injury by lowering speeds at intersections; increased traffic capacity; fewer stops and shorter delays at the intersection; and lower maintenance costs,” added Scruton.
In Barrie, a roundabout is included in the long-term plans for Ross, Collier and Bayfield streets — which will help to better align Ross and Collier with Bayfield.
There is also an environmental assessment being conducted for Bradford Street with an eye to building a pair of roundabouts at Tiffin Street and Lakeshore Drive.
Kempenfelt Bay intersects the city’s transportation network and interrupts the grid system a community would typically have, said Brett Gratrix, a senior project manager with the city’s transportation planning and development services.
“So we have a lot of traffic that is funnelled into a very narrow area within the city between Anne Street and Lakeshore Drive,” he said.
Prior to the pandemic, afternoon traffic would often be backed up along Lakeshore Drive.
That is bound to get worse as the city’s population doubles to a projected 298,000 by 2051.
The plan is to have a functional system to accommodate that growth. But he points out that they’re not yet included in the city’s five- to 10-year capital planning.
Others are being planned on the extremities of the city’s secondary planning areas in the south end.
While they are widely accepted to be beneficial for both traffic and safety, Gratrix said they are being used in Barrie to address specific traffic or geometric problems, such as the intersections at Ross/Collier/Bayfield and Lakeshore/Tiffin/Bradford.
They do present a different set of circumstances to pedestrians and cyclists and could be a challenge, he added. The cues of a traditional intersection — the audible flashing and signal heads — don’t exist in roundabouts.
“It’s definitely a doable solution, but it’s coupled with education of both motorists and cyclists,” he said.
Vehicles are to yield to pedestrians in roundabouts, meaning drivers need to be aware of their surroundings.
Al Zurawski, regional trainer for Young Drivers of Canada in Barrie, does see the benefits.
“From a road safety aspect it makes sense,” said the local driving instructor. “The purpose of them is to allow you to get from one street to another street,” eliminating any cross flow along with the potential for deadly head-on crashes.
The key is to pay attention to the signing leading up to the roundabout to know what lane to be in, he advises.
The right lane is intended for those who need to exit at the first street. Those wanting a subsequent exit use the inside lane. And the person wanting to get off has the right of way.
And while they are increasingly being considered as an option, Gratrix sees the greatest benefit of roundabouts on the regional and provincial roads with higher vehicle speeds, given their safety benefits for drivers.
He refers to statistics from the U.S. federal highway administration which show more than a 90 per cent reduction in fatalities, 76 per cent reduction in injuries and 35 per cent reduction in all crashes.
“The biggest thing about roundabouts is they almost prevent those fatal and catastrophic accidents — they just can’t happen, what you’re left with is very minor accidents, like little sideswipes while you’re in the roundabout,” he said. “It eliminates those head-on collisions.”
Pedestrians should use the sidewalk or paved shoulder on the perimeter of the roundabout, added Scruton, adding roundabouts are generally considered to be safer for pedestrians.
Crosswalks on the curbed concrete splitter islands are designed to enable pedestrians to cross one lane of traffic, pause on the island until traffic is clear, then cross the second lane.
Cyclists can either dismount and cross each road as a pedestrian or take the centre of their lane and share the road with motorists, she added.
Simcoe County also has plans to develop roundabouts in the following areas in the next year:
— County Road 21 and County Road 56 in Essa Township, scheduled for 2022 construction;
— County Road 53 and Carson/Seaton in Springwater Township, scheduled for 2022-23 construction;
These projects are on the books for subsequent years:
— Grey Road 19 / County Road 34 and Mountain Road – a joint project being managed by Grey County, tentatively scheduled for 2024 construction;
— County Road 4 and 9th Line Innisfil, tentatively scheduled for 2025 construction;
— County Road 22 (Horseshoe Valley Road) and 3rd Line Oro-Medonte, tentatively scheduled for 2027 construction;
— County Road 22 (Horseshoe Valley Road) and Horseshoe Boulevard, tentatively scheduled for 2024-25 construction; and
— County Road 22 (Horseshoe Valley Road) and 4th Line Oro-Medonte, tentatively scheduled for 2026 construction.
