A Study of the Traffic Safety at Roundabouts in Minnesota

The first Minnesota modern roundabout was constructed in 1995. Since then, roundabouts have been built across the state by the Minnesota Department of Transportation, counties, and cities. There is no definitive count across Minnesota, but it is likely nearing 200 roundabouts across the state on all roads. They have become an increasingly popular intersection type by traffic engineers, communities, and transportation officials. The purpose of this report is to examine the safety performance of roundabouts by comparing the before construction crash rates and the after construction crash rates and traffic volume data. Overall, roundabouts are performing well when looking at the crash reduction record. Roundabouts in Minnesota have had over an 80% reduction in fatal and serious injury crashes. At the time of this report, there still has not been a multi-vehicle fatality in a roundabout in Minnesota