By Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Public feedback is being sought on the new roundabout at Pontiac Trail and 7 Mile Road in Salem Township.

The Washtenaw County Road Commission constructed a single lane roundabout over the summer at the intersection of Pontiac Trail and 7 Mile Road. It replaced a four-way stop intersection and has been open for about a month. The project was completed slightly ahead of schedule. The single-lane roundabout is a compact roundabout designed to reduce congestion using a smaller physical footprint than traditional, larger roundabouts.

The Road Commission is now seeking feedback from those who use the roundabout and an online survey recently went live. Communications Manager Emily Kizer said they always trying to learn from different projects and have received a lot of great feedback already. She says they’re looking for input from the public who use the roundabout whether daily, month or periodically and how they feel about the end result. Compact roundabouts are still relatively new in the county. They’re smaller and therefore help minimize impact to nearby property owners, speed up construction time and reduce costs. Kizer commented that roundabouts in general can be somewhat polarizing and people seem to love or hate them. However, she said most people seem to like them when they’re the smaller, single lane roundabouts, like what was built at 7 Mile & Pontiac Trail. Kizer said they also find they’re easier to manage than a double-lane or two lane roundabout.

Kizer says the survey is about 12 questions long and typically takes people around 3-4 minutes to complete. The survey will be posted on the Washtenaw County Road Commission’s website for the next 2-3 weeks. Kizer says they’ll use the feedback to learn from the project and for future decision making. It will also be shared with industry peers. Kizer noted there’s a roundabout community of engineers who are always trying to learn about the feature, which is still a relatively new treatment for intersections in the U.S. A link to the survey is provided.