ST. GEORGE — Two new roundabouts are currently being built in St. George and are expected to be completed this summer.
The intersection of 400 East and Tabernacle Street has been closed since March due to construction on the roundabout in the downtown area, which should be finished in early June. Construction on the Southgate roundabout began two weeks ago near the Southgate Golf Course at 600 West and Tonaquint Drive and is expected to be completed by mid-July.
Downtown roundabout
The downtown roundabout will be fully opened and traffic will be moving through the intersection around the beginning of June, Marc Mortensen, assistant to the city manager, said.
This circle is currently being built with a distinguishing feature – a channel carved down the middle of the roundabout for drainage and to handle floodwaters. Traditionally named “flood street,” 400 East is the low point on St. George Boulevard and the point where much of the water drains during rainstorms.
Although there is already underground drainage there, the above-ground trough will help with drainage when the city gets heavy rains, Mortensen said.
Southgate roundabout
Construction on the roundabout near the entrance of the Southgate Golf Club community began in the beginning of May and should be completed by my mid-July if everything goes according to plan, Mortensen said.
This roundabout will not affect the flow of traffic like the downtown roundabout has. During construction, traffic will continue to flow around the project.
Construction on this roundabout will also bring sidewalks to the intersection, which until now hasn’t had any paved sidewalks. This will improve pedestrian and cycling access to the area, Mortensen said. For some time, community members have been asking the city for sidewalks around this intersection, Mortensen said, and this is a good opportunity to complete them.
For more information on these roundabouts and their original planning processes, read this earlier article by St. George News.
Related Posts
- City Council approves fee changes at animal shelter, roundabout bid, hears Little Valley concerns
- Cities plan to roll out more roundabouts; issues, opinions
- Southern Utah Driving 101: How to safely navigate roundabouts; STGnews Videocast
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2014, all rights reserved.
Unless you are a racing enthusiast, driving a Porsche, Corvette, Miata, 350Z, etc., and enjoy pulling 1G corners, roundabouts are a beautiful “pain in the butt”! People hate the ones we have now. Why add to our misery by building more? I say keep them in the UK! Ultra bad plan 🙁 in my opinion.
Modern roundabouts are the safest form of intersection in the world. Visit http://tinyurl.com/iihsRAB for modern roundabout FAQs and safety facts. Modern roundabouts, and the pedestrian refuge islands approaching them, are two of nine proven safety measures identified by the FHWA, http://tinyurl.com/7qvsaem
The FHWA has a video about modern roundabouts that is mostly accurate (http://tinyurl.com/6v44a3x).
I fear I will get in an accident just about anytime I drive through one of our roundabouts. “Yield” to most people in St. George means “hurry and beat the car already in the roundabout so I can save 5 seconds” Idiots