TRAFFIC CIRCLE ON SPRIGG PROPOSED

Cape Girardeau and Southeast Missouri State University may be going in circles to improve a Sprigg Street intersection.

A traffic circle or roundabout may be constructed this year to improve safety for motorists and pedestrians at the Sprigg, Washington and Normal intersection.

The university has agreed to pay half the cost of the improvements, City Engineer Mark Lester said. The city would pay the other half.

University officials wanted the city to install traffic lights at the intersection. Southeast has money in its budget for the project.

A university parking lot and a physical plant building are situated northeast of the intersection. Sprigg Street separates that area from the Normal Avenue area of the campus.

Students regularly cross the busy intersection where currently there is only a flashing yellow light to slow down northbound and southbound motorists on Sprigg Street.

"It really is a dangerous place," said Dr. Ken Dobbins, Southeast's executive vice president and soon-to-be president.

Lester said the university's willingness to help fund improvements to the interection has moved it up on the priority list.

The city engineer said he is still weighing the options: whether it would be best to install traffic signals or a roundabout. He expects to make a recommendation to the City Council this summer.

At this point, he is leaning toward a roundabout. "It is cheaper to put in a roundabout than traffic signals," said Lester. Roundabouts cost less to construct and to maintain, he said.

It could cost less than $100,000 to build a roundabout at the intersection. The price tag for buying and installing traffic signals could be $100,000 to $130,000, Lester said.

There are no left turns with roundabouts.

"The advantage of a roundabout is everybody yields whereas with signal lights you are going to have some stacking," he said.

Crosswalks would be built farther back on Sprigg, Normal and Washington streets, away from the circle of traffic.

Lester said a roundabout would be safer than traffic signals at that intersection.

A roundabout could be built in about a month, he said.

Lester said the intersection would be a good place for the city to experiment with a roundabout. If it works well, the city may construct more roundabouts, he said.

Lester and Ken Eftink, the city's development services coordinator, said roundabouts have been used with success in other cities across the country.

Lester said traffic engineers and law enforcement officials discussed the use of roundabouts at a meeting in May at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Eftink said studies show roundabouts are safer than traffic lights, and the accidents that do occur are less severe. "You don't have an opportunity for head-on collisions," he said.

Lester said he had hoped the work could be done before fall-semester classes start at Southeast, but that probably won't happen. Lester said the project shouldn't cause a major traffic problem.