LAKE STEVENS—It’s no secret to anyone who has driven through Lake Stevens that the city has a plethora of roundabouts. The Lynnwood Times sat down with Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Construction Communicator David Rasbach to learn about the decision-making behind this and how it aims to reduce congestion as well as the likelihood of collision.
There are currently five roundabouts on WSDOT-operated roads with many more on city of Lake Stevens-owned and operated roads. Three of these are on the intersection of SR 9 and 204, Vernon Road and South Lake Stevens Road, and two more on SR 92 – the intersection at 99th and 113th avenues
“Our traffic engineers examine each intersection on our state highways independently. We consider installing roundabouts at intersections where building one will improve safety and mobility,” said Rasbach.
Background of the Lake Stevens roundabout project
Prior to the WSDOT-led project to add roundabouts on the State Route 9/State Route 204 intersection in Lake Stevens, the city was experiencing heavy congestion leading to backups and delays of freight traffic, commuter traffic, and motorists attempting to access the multiple business that surround the intersection.
In response, the WSDOT formed a stakeholder advisory group in 2016 to evaluate its improvement options, consisting of eleven leaders and representatives from the city of Lake Stevens, Snohomish County, area businesses and transit providers.
From this advisory group multiple design proposals were presented to the public during open houses in 2017 where they also gauged public feedback. The top pick of these options was to build an alternative road that would travel underneath SR 204 but, after closer look, the subsurface conditions were far from ideal – the groundwater lever being just nine feet below the surface resulting in a hefty cost, materials, and overall feasibility.
In 2018 the advisory group returned to the drawing board and settled on two options; either a roundabout or widening of the road, ultimately settling on a roundabout for its overall benefits to the community.
Still, before green lighting the project, the team provided multiple opportunities for stakeholders, highway users, area business and people who live in Lake Stevens to review options including 11 stakeholder advisory group meetings from 2016 through 2019, six open houses for the public between 2016 and 2022, four business forums from 2016 through 2021, and both online and in-person community open houses in 2022.
“Roundabouts have many important benefits over other intersection control types. Studies have shown roundabouts are safer than traditional stop sign or traffic signal-controlled intersections,” Rasbach told the Lynnwood Times. “Roundabouts reduced injury crashes by 75% at intersections where stop signs or traffic signals were previously used for traffic control.”
According to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Federal Highway Administration, roundabouts typically achieve: a 37% reduction in overall collisions, a 75% reduction in injury collisions, a 90% reduction in fatality collisions, and a 40% reduction in pedestrian collisions.
“Roundabouts also move traffic through an intersection more quickly and with less congestion on approaching roads. Unlike intersections with traffic signals, drivers don’t have to wait for a green light at a roundabout to get through the intersection,” Rasbach continued. “Traffic is not required to stop – only yield – so the intersection can handle more traffic in the same amount of time.”
Studies by Kansas State University measured traffic flow at intersections before and after conversion to roundabouts. In each case, installing a roundabout led to a 20% reduction in delays. Additional studies by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety of intersections in three states, including Washington, found that roundabouts contributed to an 89% reduction in delays and 56% reduction in vehicle stops.
“As part of the regular design process, recent data for collisions at this intersection was analyzed before the roundabout was installed. The engineering analysis showed that the design alternative that included roundabouts was projected to have the lowest rate of fatal and injury collisions at the SR 9/SR 204 intersection. These projections were based on methodology in the Highway Safety Manual, which is the primary industry standard for this type of analysis,” Marcus Humberg with the WSDOT informed the Lynnwood Times.
According to Rasbach the cost difference between building a roundabout and a traffic signal are comparable, but the long-term costs are in a roundabout’s favor, not having to spend the $5,000 to $10,000 per year on hardware maintenance and electrical costs.
Constructing Lake Stevens roundabouts
Construction of the SR 9/SR 204 Intersection Improvements project was divided into three phases.
The first phase, which ran from spring to fall in 2019, included constructing an additional southbound lake on SR 9 south of Market Street.
Phase two, which ran from spring 2021 through spring 2022, included constructing an additional southbound and northbound lane on SR 9, a northbound right turn lane exiting to Fourth Street Northeast, a right-turn pocket on westbound Market Place turning to northbound SR 9, noise walls on the east and west sides of SR 9 from Fourth Street Southeast to Market Place and stormwater facilities.
The third and final phase, which ran from summer 2022 through fall 2023, included construction of two new multi-lane roundabouts at the SR 9 intersections at SR 204 and Vernon Road, rebuilding an existing mini-roundabout further east on North Davies Road, and further work to build stormwater facilities. This phase also included landscaping, constructing sidewalks and crosswalks, and permanent striping. This phase required full closure of SR 9 that lasted about a week during the summer of 2023.
Proper roundabout usage and education
Since roundabouts in Washington State are a relatively new traffic strategy, only really beginning to see usage beginning in the 1990’s, the WSDOT held three pop-up events in the summer of 2023 before and after the roundabouts opened to meet Lake Stevens residents were they were, educate them on how to properly use a roundabout, and answer any questions they may have had.
A fourth event during a luncheon was held at the Lake Stevens Senior Center.
During these events attendees could “drive” miniature cars across a large map of the new roundabouts to get a hands-on-experience. The WSDOT also produces two educational videos – one showing how to navigate the new roundabout and a second on how to properly drive in a roundabout. To this day the WSDOT has a webpage completely dedicated to roundabouts and how to properly use them.
“Studies show that drivers tend to like roundabouts after using them. A survey on drivers’ views of roundabouts before and after construction conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety showed that before construction, the number of drivers in favor of roundabouts was only 31%, and those strongly opposed was 41%. After driving them, this shifted to 63% in favor and only 15% strongly opposed,” said Rasbach.
According to Marcus Humberg, Assistant Communications Manager for the WSDOT,In the 5-years of data analyzed during the design phase of the Lake Stevens roundabout project (2011-2015), there were a total of 67 collisions reported at the SR 9/SR 204 intersection, including one fatality and 14 injury collisions.
Since the project opened at the end of June 2023, there have been a total of 209 collisions reported at the SR 9/SR 204 intersection, with no fatalities and 29 injury collisions. The design phase data did not distinguish between injury severity, but since opening, one collision was considered serious.
How roundabouts reduce the severity of collisions
Rasbach informed the Lynnwood Times that the WSDOT has “always looks for ways to increase safety and mobility on our state’s highways.” One of these are roundabouts which help reduce the number of severe-injury and fatal collisions at intersections, he added.
They do this, he explained, because drivers are required to slow down and yield to traffic before entering a roundabout. Speeds in a roundabout are typically between 15 and 20 miles per hour meaning that if there is a collision it’s typically minor and causes fewer injuries.
“Roundabouts are designed to promote a continuous, circular flow of traffic. Because traffic is constantly flowing through the intersection, drivers do not have the incentive to speed up to try and “beat the light” as they might at an intersection with a traffic signal,” said Rasbach. “Roads entering a roundabout are gently curved to direct drivers into the intersection and help them travel counterclockwise around the roundabout. The curved roads and one-way travel around the roundabout eliminate the possibility for more serious “T-bone” and head-on collisions.”
Roundabout safety tips
Rasbach said that ultimately, the new roundabouts in Lake Stevens’ should be judged on how well they reduce serious-injury and fatal collisions at the intersection in order to gauge if they’re successful or not.
“They are already doing that by significantly reducing the likelihood of T-bone and head-on crashes,” said Rasbach. “As with every change that we make, we already are and will continue to evaluate the Lake Stevens roundabouts to make sure they are performing as intended, and we will make adjustments if needed.”
To make sure drivers continue to perform as expected, Rasbach said that drivers need to do their part behind the wheel.
Just a few safety tips he mentioned include:
- Slowing down when they approach the intersections.
- Yielding the right of way to traffic already in the roundabout.
- Watching for bicycle users and pedestrians in and near the roundabout.
- Remaining distraction free when they drive.
As of now the WSDOT is not planning on building any additional roundabouts on state highways in the Lake Stevens area but Rasbach said that could change if WSDOT traffic engineers believe one could improve safety and mobility at an intersection.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
