Roundabouts Are Hot Topic in Ohio

While they have been common in Europe since the 1960’s, roundabouts have been gaining popularity in the U.S. since the late 90’s, reports NRMCA Senior Vice President, Local Paving, Phil Kresge. The Federal Highway Administration estimates that there are over 8,000 roundabouts currently in the service, with the potential for more than 500 new per year. With over 400 roundabouts in the state, Ohio ranks 10th among the 50 states in most roundabouts.

Kresge recently attended two conferences in Ohio focused on roundabouts. The first, at the Northwest Ohio Concrete Fall Seminar, he presented Design and Construction of Concrete Roundabouts and Concrete Overlays of Asphalt Overlays. The program was hosted by the Ohio Concrete Association (OCA) and held at NRMCA member Kuhlman Group’s Maumee facility. Following Kresge’s presentations and a local concrete roundabout overview presented by Lucas County Engineer Mike Pniewski, attendees took part in a field visit to the recently completed concrete roundabout at Centennial Road and West Sylvania Ave in nearby Sylvania.

Kresge then repeated his presentations at the Ohio Roundabouts Conference, a one-day program hosted by the Ohio Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) with more than 200 local and county municipal officials in attendance. His participation was facilitated by OCA’s Northwest Region Promotion Director Wayne Moening. Several attendees expressed significant interest, not only in concrete roundabouts, but also in concrete overlays for their existing intersections.

For more information, contact Phil Kresge at pkresge@nrmca.org.