CONWAY, Ark. (KTHV) – Conway is looking to add more roundabouts throughout the city to help with traffic flows.
The city has the most roundabouts in the state with 24. City Engineer Finley Vinson said there are plans to build at least six more.
“The first roundabout was installed in 2009. That was at Tyler and Washington,” Vinson said.
Vinson said roundabouts have decreased the number of dangerous accidents in Conway. He said most of the accidents that occur at roundabouts are rear-end collisions and sideswipes.
"Federal research shows that the fatality rate goes down by more than 90 percent, and we have never had a fatality at a roundabout,” he said.
Four of the roundabout additions would go along Donaghey Avenue between Prince Street and Dave Ward.
“[Donaghey] currently has five signalized intersections in the corridor,” Vinson said. “In addition to that, the city has money set aside to improve two other intersections within the next several years.”
Vinson said the city first has to conduct traffic studies at those intersections. The intersections it plans on studying include College and Ferris, Tyler and Salem, and Prince and Country Club.
Communications Coordinator Bobby Kelly said other cities in Arkansas have turned to Conway to see if adding roundabouts will help traffic flows.
“For a lot of folks, roundabouts are new and if it changes up their commute, they either want to give you positive feedback or negative feedback,” Kelly said.
Whether you like it or not, Vinson said the city is likely moving forward with plans.
"For quite some time we believed that college would need to be widened because of the congestion there but we replaced the signal with a roundabout and we've seen congestion in that area almost completely go away,” Vinson said.
Vinson said construction on the roundabouts along Donaghey will begin in 2019 and last about three years.
Construction on the additional two roundabouts would start roughly in 2020 and 2022.