Fatalities Reduced By Two Chester County Roundabouts

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — Fatalities, injuries, and crashes decreased overall at 26 roundabouts at 23 locations, including two in Chester County, in the time since they were built, according to a PennDOT report.
"The modern roundabout is simply safer than the traditional intersection," PennDOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian said.

"Though not the right option for every intersection, data shows that when installed, roundabouts save lives and reduce crash severity."

PennDOT recently reviewed data for 26 roundabouts on state routes at intersections that were previously stop or signal controlled.

These roundabouts in Chester County were included:

• Route 82 (Doe Run Road) and Unionville Road, a single-line roundabout opened in 2005 in Unionville section of East Marborough Township.
• Route 52 (Lenape Road), S. Wawaset Road and Lenape Unionville Road, opened in 2014 in Pocopson Township.

The roundabouts were selected based on having at least three years of crash data available before and after the roundabouts were built. Department data based on police-submitted crash reports spanning the years 2000 through 2020 shows that fatalities at these locations were reduced by 100 percent and the total number of crashes decreased by 22 percent. Additionally:

• Suspected serious injuries were reduced by 81 percent;
• Suspected minor injuries were reduced by 36 percent;
• Possible/unknown severity injuries were reduced by 76 percent; and
• Property damage-only crashes increased by 13 percent.

In addition to the 26 roundabouts meeting the selection criteria, 36 other roundabouts have been built on state routes with 19 more in construction and 20 in final design.

Roundabouts are frequently installed to address intersections with safety issues but may also be installed to improve traffic flow as well as other reasons such as traffic calming, and to facilitate pedestrian mobility.

More information on how to navigate a roundabout is available at www.penndot.gov or by visiting the department's YouTube channel.