More roundabouts in Kennewick, are they making you safer?
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KENNEWICK - Roundabouts in the Tri-Cities, some love them others hate them, but are they making roads safer? A year ago a viewer told us about major accidents at the roundabout at 27th and Vancouver that kept damaging his home. KEPR discovered changes to that roundabout have made the roads safer both at that intersection and across the city.
Action News met Bruce Pritchard over a year ago after an accident at the roundabout on 27th and Vancouver landed in his yard for the 14th time.
But a year later, flashing lights and a barrier for his home has made this roundabout a different story.
“It's been a year of no accident we cross our fingers on that. We've had lulls before and all of a sudden 3-4 wrecks in a row, but it seems to be calming down,” said Bruce Pritchard.
Kennewick normally sites a national stat that says roundabouts make intersections 50-80% safer, but KEPR wanted to know how are local intersections stacking up against that stats.
The city's first roundabout went on 27th and Union. It had 32 accidents the year before it was built, and that turned into 0 the following year.
Another Hot Spot was 19th and Union. There was just one accident the year before the roundabout was put-in, and since the average has dropped to less than one a year.
For 27th and Vancouver, there were 9 accidents in an average year before the accident, and since there's been about two a year, with none since March of 2011.
When KEPR asked if Kennewick roundabouts are safer than ever, Kennewick’s Public Works Director Peter Beaudry responded, “I would say yes, they are, if you look at our high accident locations, almost everyone one of them a traffic signal.”
KEPR also discovered that two more roundabouts are currently being built out in the Southridge area. There are also two more on the way at 45th and Olympia along with Ridgeline and Zintel Way.
With fewer accidents, Bruce sees it as a welcomed change.
“We feel like the issues have been resolves, and that's the best we can ask for right? It's not a perfect world but it's better than it was,” said Pritchard.
Kennewick also says one of the benefits to roundabouts is the savings to maintenance. It saves them about $10,000 each year compared to the upkeep of street lights at other intersections.
Action News met Bruce Pritchard over a year ago after an accident at the roundabout on 27th and Vancouver landed in his yard for the 14th time.
But a year later, flashing lights and a barrier for his home has made this roundabout a different story.
“It's been a year of no accident we cross our fingers on that. We've had lulls before and all of a sudden 3-4 wrecks in a row, but it seems to be calming down,” said Bruce Pritchard.
Kennewick normally sites a national stat that says roundabouts make intersections 50-80% safer, but KEPR wanted to know how are local intersections stacking up against that stats.
The city's first roundabout went on 27th and Union. It had 32 accidents the year before it was built, and that turned into 0 the following year.
Another Hot Spot was 19th and Union. There was just one accident the year before the roundabout was put-in, and since the average has dropped to less than one a year.
For 27th and Vancouver, there were 9 accidents in an average year before the accident, and since there's been about two a year, with none since March of 2011.
When KEPR asked if Kennewick roundabouts are safer than ever, Kennewick’s Public Works Director Peter Beaudry responded, “I would say yes, they are, if you look at our high accident locations, almost everyone one of them a traffic signal.”
KEPR also discovered that two more roundabouts are currently being built out in the Southridge area. There are also two more on the way at 45th and Olympia along with Ridgeline and Zintel Way.
With fewer accidents, Bruce sees it as a welcomed change.
“We feel like the issues have been resolves, and that's the best we can ask for right? It's not a perfect world but it's better than it was,” said Pritchard.
Kennewick also says one of the benefits to roundabouts is the savings to maintenance. It saves them about $10,000 each year compared to the upkeep of street lights at other intersections.
