By Luke Porter, Stonebrooke Engineering
Modern roundabouts are a relatively new traffic control method in the State of Minnesota. Engineers and project managers at the state, county, city, and consultant level have noticed that there is some confusion regarding the operation and benefits of roundabouts. In some cases, this confusion, along with misinformation, has led to “roundabout myths” that are prevalent in many public roundabout discussions, publications, and presentations.
This trend was also noticed by the board members of the Minnesota Local Road Research Board (LRRB). Part of the mission of the LRRB is to perform roadway-related research projects, and to implement the results of that research as products that are useful to Minnesota local agencies. LRRB board members realized that this roundabout confusion could be an opportunity for a research and education project that would benefit not only the general public, but also local agencies that encounter these myths on a regular basis.
In some research applications, the research is performed before the practical application of the results has been decided. However, in this instance, the board members decided early on that an educational video would be the best end product for this research project. A video can be made available as both an online streaming video and as a DVD or Blu-Ray disc for local agency use. Online videos have the potential for user sharing, content engagement, and audience coverage that reports and workshops do not have. In addition, the use of video is becoming increasingly popular in public outreach initiatives such as public open house meetings. In these settings, videos can show engineering subjects in simple, efficient ways, and give attendees the same baseline understanding of the issues being considered.
The LRRB has produced numerous educational videos that were either produced internally or with the help of various consultants. For this project, they selected Stonebrooke Engineering to assist with roundabout myth research, video production, and animated visualizations. Stonebrooke has produced four other videos for the LRRB, on subjects such as bike lane education, rumble strips, and construction zone safety.
A Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) was formed that included several Minnesota roundabout experts. Stonebrooke and the TAC worked together to identify project goals and purpose, which was to research roundabout myths and develop and publish a 15-minute informational video that identifies the top 10 myths and clears up some of the misunderstandings that exist.
The top 10 myths were identified using a voting system, where each roundabout expert received 10 points to allocate to the myths however they liked. They could give all of their points to one myth, one point each to 10 separate myths, or any combination in between. The top 10 myths, shown in descending order, as well as those not making the top 10 are identified below:
Top 10 Myths:
Myths Not Making the Top 10:
The TAC nominated three Minnesota roundabout technical experts to be interviewed as part of this project: Joe Gustafson (Washington County traffic engineer), Ken Johnson (MnDOT traffic engineer), and Jodie Tiech (Stearns County engineer). All three candidates accepted, and their interview footage was woven into the final video.
The interview questions were designed to obtain a full understanding of each myth from a technical perspective, which could then be edited down later and combined with animated visuals as needed. For example, the following questions were used for the myth that roundabouts are not safe for pedestrians and bicycles:
Stonebrooke’s production crew conducted the interviews on location using movie studio quality equipment. The interview with Joe Gustafson was filmed overlooking a multi-lane roundabout in Woodbury, with live traffic operating in the roundabout behind Joe.
In addition to the roundabout technical experts, interviews were performed with Mayor Sarah Jane Nichols from the City of Sartel and Lieutenant Tiffani Nielson from the State Patrol. These interviews addressed the myths from a non-technical perspective.
Stonebrooke also conducted on-the-street interviews with members of the general public to gain their perspective on roundabouts and to confirm the existence of certain roundabout myths. These interviews demonstrate some of the confusion that exists regarding this form of traffic control, and were used in the final video to introduce each myth.
Finally, the production crew filmed general traffic operations at several local roundabouts. In addition to ground-level video, bird’s eye video was obtained at the Woodbury Drive/Bailey Road multi-lane roundabout. This was made possible by Washington County Public Works contributing staff and a bucket truck to lift the camera operator above the roundabout, where he filmed operations from above. A special trip was also made to film the 66th Street roundabouts in Richfield due to their close proximity to local businesses.
Both versions of the video were uploaded to the LRRB YouTube page, and public agencies could choose either version from there, or request a copy of either version from Stonebrooke Engineering. MnDOT also reached out to members of the City Engineers Association of Minnesota (CEAM) and Minnesota County Engineers Association (MCEA) and provided them with links to the videos for their own use.
Both videos are posted below.
Full Version:
Short Version:
March 25, 2024
March 25, 2024
February 23, 2024
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