Roundabouts

The City of Bismarck has been constructing roundabouts at certain intersections around town.  Roundabouts are becoming more common here and in other areas and will continue to be a good option in areas where it is feasible.

Advantages of roundabouts vs traditional intersections:

• They greatly reduce the frequency and severity of intersection related accidents, by forcing traffic to slow down, thereby reducing including high speed head-on and perpendicular crashes
• They are much safer for pedestrians because they only need to cross one direction of traffic at a time and they typically have a shorter distance and center island for pedestrians to stand while waiting cross the other lane of traffic.
• They require far less maintenance of expensive equipment as compare to a traditional signalized intersection.

How to correctly drive a roundabout (video).