Murphy – Roundabouts are quickly becoming the latest battleground issue in Cherokee County.
Much of the attention in recent weeks has been focused on a planned downtown roundabout at the intersection of Valley River Avenue and Hiwassee, Peachtree and Tennessee streets downtown. However, the issue has grown more contentious on the heels of news that the N.C. Department of Transportation also plans to fund and install a two-lane roundabout on the western edge of the city limits on U.S. 64 West.
According to DOT communications officer David Uchiyama, those plans developed after county officials decided not to install an emergency management center nearby.
“A decision by Cherokee County leaders to change the location of a proposed emergency management center has provided an opportunity for the N.C. Department of Transportation to install a traffic calming feature as part of widening U.S. 19/64/74/129 on the west edge of Murphy city limits,” Uchiyama said. “NCDOT officials and design engineers are developing detailed plans to install a two-lane roundabout on the highway with legs to a new connector to Old Ranger Road and Mark’s Drive.”
The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution Monday night opposing both planned roundabouts.
“We want the citizens to have input into this,” Chair Cal Stiles said. “It’s a big change. I don’t know if anyone has seen the maps or not, but it’s going to make a huge change for downtown, and even as much or more out on the four-lane.”
According to studies by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, roundabouts provide a 90 percent reduction in fatal crashes, 76 percent reduction in injury crashes, 30-40 percent reduction in pedestrian crashes and 10 percent reduction in bicycle crashes.
The original DOT plans called for a new traffic signal on U.S. 64 when county officials were considering an emergency management center in the area. With no EMS center in the vicinity, Uchiyama said a signal is no longer the best option.
“The roundabout will serve to slow traffic entering Murphy from the west, while still moving all lanes of traffic, providing safe entrance to the highway from side roads as well as a turnaround for large trucks,” he said. “In addition to new sidewalk on both sides of the highway, it will also provide safer pedestrian crossing.”
The DOT website features a page dedicated to roundabouts, including tips about how to navigate them.
“Drivers yield to any vehicles or bicyclists already in the roundabout,” the DOT says on its website. “Everyone using the roundabout moves in a counterclockwise direction, and those already in it do not yield to approaching vehicles.”
The page also includes a section of information dedicated to driving through a multi-lane roundabout like the one planned for the western side of town. The DOT advises drivers that they typically will be in the right lane to exit right out of the roundabout. Drivers should stay in the left lane to go straight through the roundabout, or to exit to the right three-quarters of the way around, or to go full circle and make a U-turn. The DOT also says drivers should not change lanes while in the roundabout.