The intersection of Lexington and Kingsway, just off KingsHighway, is about a week away from becoming Cape Girardeau’s third roundabout.
Roundabouts are considered a safe and cost-effective solution to problematic intersections, though they can be confusing to drivers who have never navigated one. City of Cape Girardeau Engineer Casey Brunkesaid in the end, a roundabout was the best choice for this intersection.
“We need to increase the safety at that intersection," Brunke said. "We had a lot of bad accidents in that location and a roundabout was the best solution. We did look at a couple other options, one being a traffic signal, but the location was just too close to the existing traffic signal on KingsHighway. So the roundabout turned out to mainly be our only option after we looked at some others and I think it will be safer.”
Brian Holt is a MoDoT engineer and overseer of this construction project. He said there are two good reasons to install a roundabout: Low overall costs and a safer driving environment by cutting down points of collision.
“Long-term maintenance cost will be less. There will not be any signals that have to be maintained. There will also be with a roundabout there’s less points of conflict meaning less opportunities for wrecks to happen. So you’ll see reduced costs in emergency services,” Holt said, a MoDot engineer.
The cost of this construction will be split between the Missouri Department of Transportation and the city of Cape Girardeau, the payment being up to $852,000 per party.