The second roundabout in the City of Brookfield, located at the intersection of Brookfield Road and North Avenue, opened to traffic Aug. 11. Construction began in mid-June, which resulted in necessary detours around the intersection for most of the summer. However, work is still ongoing in regards to signs, road markings, and landscaping of the center island area.
In 2012, the Brookfield Common Council voted 8-6 in favor of a single-lane roundabout over traffic lights at the Brookfield Road and North Avenue intersection with the goal of improving traffic flow and reducing both severity and frequency of traffic accidents, such as T-bone collisions. The Brookfield-North roundabout is smaller than the two-lane roundabout at Barker Road and North Avenue, which was constructed in 2010.
Modern roundabouts are physically designed to slow traffic entering the junction and improve safety, with signs directing entering traffic to slow and to yield for those with the right of way.
Major concerns that arose prior to the construction of the roundabout included the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists and the need for sidewalks.
During the summer, nearby residents had to incorporate the construction of the roundabout into their lives. Amy Lonski (’15), who lives on the corner of Brookfield Road and North Avenue, said of her experience, “It kind of sucked that construction took almost all summer, and sometimes we could not park in our driveway but I think a roundabout would be better than a stop sign. Also, this is kind of funny but to get to my house I had to go through the closed-road signs. Sometimes, drivers behind me would see that and then try to do the same, but they’d get pulled over for trying to go through the intersection while it was still under construction. Overall, construction was not too horrible but I am glad it is finally done.”
When approaching a roundabout, drivers should slow down and yield to traffic already in the roundabout before entering. Once in the roundabout, traffic does not stop and flows counterclockwise. Before exiting, one should use their turn signals and watch for pedestrians.