Dispute the results of a public survey on the issue, a roundabout is coming to a busy intersection west of Chatham.
Chatham-Kent council voted in favour of changing the Queen’s Line/Merlin Road intersection to a roundabout design.
Currently the intersection is a two-way stop.
A consultant prepared a report about whether the intersection would benefit with a traffic light design or a roundabout design and concluded that a roundabout is a better option.
Major benefits of a roundabout is that it eliminates a lot of the crossing type collisions that happen at other intersections.
Thomas Kelly, Chatham-Kent’s general manager of infrastructure and engineering, said the safety component of the roundabout is a huge benefit.
He said the $2.1 million roundabout is also more reliable and has less capital costs and less ongoing costs than an intersection with traffic lights.
“I know it’s new for a lot of residents, (but if you look at other communities) it’s becoming very popular. If you look at Europe—they have been at it much longer than we have, and (the roundabouts) are popular there,” Kelly said.
Councillor Mark Authier said one of his pet peeves is that the municipality did a survey, and most people who completed the survey weren’t in favour of a roundabout for the intersection.
“I guess we’re going to throw that out the window,” Authier said.
Moving forward, municipal officials will be contacting property owners to negotiate land purchases before a request for proposals can be issued for the design phase.