Washington State Focuses on Outreach, Illustrates How to Drive a Roundabout

Details

• Corporate Creators:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Safety
• Contributors:
  Walsh, Brian ; Shaw, Jeffrey
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Roundabouts
  • Outreach
  • Interchanges and intersections
  • Traffic safety
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA-SA-11-026
• Resource Type:
  Brief
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Safety
• Abstract:
  The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) faced resistance planning its first roundabouts in 1997 because the concept of "round" intersections was new and unknown to the general public. Aware of the compelling benefits that properly designed modern roundabout intersections offer compared with traditional intersections, the agency hoped to build many of them to increase safety and ease congestion across the State highway network. Through a concerted outreach campaign using public meetings, traffic safety design courses with local municipalities, and print/web outreach, the agency successfully overcame initial resistance to roundabouts. WSDOT has since built more than 200 roundabouts and plans several more as part of the State's continued focus on road user safety and congestion reduction. The agency attributes its success with roundabouts in part to the proactive and effective public outreach program that informed the public of the benefits of these designs, helped build support for them, and taught people how to navigate roundabouts safely and successfully.
• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/49273/dot_49273_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 569.38 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Federal Highway Administration
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:933651ca72049228cc94fa8170a3018917926a4caddd9ac15b314dadf985c62413e22a1ad48d8d1863234a9b166516e113334786f6eb2fd86bc711e4a4c0e737