On Thursday, January 14, the Washtenaw County Road Commission (WCRC) held an open house meeting at Lodi Township to share information about two upcoming projects:
A compact rural roundabout at Ann Arbor-Saline and Textile Road
Resurfacing Textile Road between Maple and Ann Arbor-Saline
The public meeting took a unique format. Instead of a presentation, attendees moved through four stations where they learned more about the projects, how to travel roundabouts, and asked questions of the projects’ engineers and roundabout experts.
Station 1: What? Why?
What are the projects?
The intersection of Ann Arbor-Saline will be upgraded to a single lane, compact rural roundabout. In a compact roundabout, tractors/trailers and other large vehicles may travel over the central island to maneuver through the roundabout.
Textile Road will be pulverized and paved with new asphalt from Ann Arbor-Saline to Maple Road. Pulverizing is when the pavement is rubblized, reclaimed, and compacted to create a smooth road base for new asphalt.
Why was a roundabout selected for this location?
The goal of the compact rural roundabout is to reduce peak period congestion that occurs on Ann Arbor-Saline Road.
What is the cost of these two projects?
Compact Roundabout is estimated to cost $550,000
Textile Road Resurfacing is estimated to cost $520,000
When will the projects start and be completed?
Work is planned to start after Labor Day and be completed in the Fall.
Why is a roundabout a better option than installing a traffic signal?
There are fewer delays at roundabouts because drivers are only required to yield and look left. With a traffic signal, delay is present 24 hours a day when a driver encounters a red light.
When determining intersection improvements, WCRC and its consultants design with the future in mind. At this location, a compact roundabout is projected to provide a high level of service up to 2035.
Installing a traffic signal would have required WCRC to expand the road to add left turn lanes, significantly impacting adjacent property owners, including the Lodi Cemetery. The compact roundabout design has a smaller footprint and will cause less impact to surrounding property owners, and no impact to the cemetery. Due to the smaller footprint, a compact roundabout requires less right-of-way acquisition, which allows WCRC to save resources that can be used for other county infrastructure needs.
Roundabouts are statistically safer than traffic signals. The roundabout’s central island eliminates the high speed, t-bone collisions that occur at signalized intersections. The splitter islands located at the roundabout’s entries slow down vehicular speeds. Due to reduced speeds, drivers no longer attempt to “beat the light” and the severity of accidents is greatly reduced.
Station 2: Project Layout
Compared to a signalized intersection, a compact roundabout eliminated impacts to the Lodi Cemetery and reduced the project’s impact to adjacent property owners and landscaping.
The roundabout design includes the installation of curbs and splitter islands at the entry. Splitter islands are used to slow down motorists as they approach the roundabout and position the vehicle at an appropriate angle for entry into the roundabout.
The roundabout’s central island and splitter islands feature mountable curbs which emergency and oversized vehicles can travel over if necessary.
Road drainage will be directed to existing drainage outlets through storm sewers or open ditches where appropriate.
Mailboxes that are removed during construction will be temporarily relocated in coordination with the USPS.
WCRC will coordinate with the school district, emergency services and service providers before the project starts.
Access will be maintained to residences during construction, however, short delays are possible during construction activities.
Station 3: Traffic Detours
During construction, Textile Road will be closed to through-traffic from Ann Arbor-Saline to Maple Road. Access to residences will be maintained during construction, however, short delays are possible during construction activities.
Traffic will be able to travel through the intersection of Maple & Textile; however, the intersection of Ann Arbor-Saline & Textile Rd will be completely closed to traffic.
Click to view detour map as a PDF
Station 4: How it Works
At this station, project consultant FTCH, demonstrated how to travel a single lane, compact roundabout using toy cars and a scaled drawing of the Ann Arbor-Saline & Textile Road compact rural roundabout.
The most important points to remember when traveling roundabouts:
Yield, Don’t Merge: Vehicles traveling inside the roundabout have the right-of-way. Do not merge into a roundabout like you merge onto a highway. Slow down, yield, and sometimes stop, for traffic that is circulating the roundabout. Enter the roundabout when a safe gap is present.
Slow Down: Roundabouts are designed to reduce your speed upon entry. While it may seem counterintuitive, slowing down in a roundabout alleviates congestion. Slower speeds also make roundabouts safer than traditional intersections.
Do Not Switch Lanes in a Roundabout: While the Ann Arbor-Saline/Textile compact roundabout is a single-lane roundabout, it is important to choose your lane prior to entering a multi-lane roundabout. All multi-lane roundabouts have signs that indicate which lane you should be in to reach your destination. Look for signage as you approach and avoid changing lanes while circulating.
How to Drive a Multi-Lane Roundabout
Additional Resources:
How to Drive the Textile Road Roundabout
About the Ann Arbor-Saline & Textile Roundabout an Textile Resurfacing Projects
How to Drive Through a Roundabout: Always Yield
All About Roundabouts Brochure
Driving Roundabouts Brochure
