New Project: Roundabouts, J-Turns, etc. – Understanding Their Economic Impacts

Roundabouts and J-turns have consistently shown significant improvements in safety and traffic flow in Minnesota and across the U.S. Still, some community residents and businesses oppose replacing traditional intersections with alternative intersections like roundabouts or J-turns.

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Business owners are concerned that installing roundabouts or J-turns may impair access to potential customers and could reduce business revenues. Evidence of reduced business has not been identified. In fact, there are some indications of improved economic activity where alternative intersections are installed.

Studying and identifying the safety, economic and other benefits of roundabouts and J-turns, could improve public understanding and acceptance of alternative intersections.

“The research will complement our existing understanding of the significant safety benefits of roundabouts and J-turns,” said Derek Leuer, state traffic safety engineer, MnDOT Office of Traffic Engineering. “By identifying evidence of the positive economic impacts of alternative intersections on businesses and the community as a whole, stakeholder acceptance will improve and, in turn, support MnDOT efforts in optimizing the use of these beneficial traffic tools.”

Objectives

In a new project, researchers will address business owner and community concerns about roundabouts and J-turns by analyzing and demonstrating the economic impacts of these alternative intersections to local businesses and the public.

The objectives are:

Understand business owner perspectives about the effects of roundabouts and J-turns on business performance
Analyze traffic counts near business before and after installation of an alternative intersection to determine any change in traffic flows
Assess the economic impacts by analyzing sales tax data for areas around the new intersections
Identify the perceived economic benefit from reductions in costs of serious and fatal crashes after installing alternative intersections