The Lucas County engineer’s office will begin construction on a new roundabout at Sylvania Avenue and Kilburn Road on Monday, June 26.
Work is expected to take 45 days and be completed by Vernon Nagel, Inc. of Napoleon. All road closures and detours can be found online at the engineer’s office website and on “Road Closure Map.”
This will mark the second roundabout along Kilburn Road. It is the county’s second roundabout improvement project of the season after finishing Brint and Centennial Road in late May.
“We are pleased to announce the start of construction of our last improvement on the Kilburn Road corridor with a roundabout at Sylvania Avenue,” said county engineer Mike Pniewski. “This new roundabout will serve to eliminate serious and fatal crashes at a dangerous intersection. This completed and improved corridor provides a significant improvement in safety, especially those who choose to bike or walk.”
Roundabouts are proven to be safer than traffic signals or traditional two and four-way stops, because they have only eight points of conflict compared to 32 at a traditional intersection, Mr. Pniewski explained.
According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), studies have shown roundabouts achieve a 35 percent reduction in all crashes, 76 percent reduction in injuries and 90 percent reduction in serious injury and deadly crashes than at two-way stop intersections.
When roundabouts replace a traffic signal, FHWA found a 48 percent reduction in crashes and nearly 80 percent drop in serious injury and deadly crashes.
There is no signal equipment to install and repair, which results in an average of $5,000 per year in electricity and maintenance costs.
The service life of a roundabout is 25 years compared to the 10-year lifespan of a traffic signal.
“Visit our website, head over to the traffic section and find our roundabout map for more on current and future roundabouts,” the county engineer said.
During construction, the detour routes will be:
•Sylvania Avenue–Richfield Center Road from Sylvania to Brint Road; Brint from Richfield Center to Mitchaw Road; Mitchaw from Brint to Sylvania.
•Kilburn Road–Brint from Kilburn to Mitchaw; Mitchaw from Brint to Sylvania; Sylvania from Mitchaw to Herr Road; Herr from Sylvania to Central Avenue.
