The North Carolina Department of Transportation has made a change to traffic flow outside of Macon Middle School and Mountain View Intermediate School in the form of a mini-roundabout.
The intersection of Wells Grove Road and Clark’s Chapel Road has been a traffic nightmare for many years because of the number of people dropping off and picking up kids at the two schools in the morning and afternoon. The intersection, which was previously a two-way stop, now allows traffic to continue moving at a faster pace and without the need for a traffic director. The NCDOT also expects that the new pattern will decrease the risk of accidents.
“This small project should provide big dividends for drivers to and from school as well as those who drive through the area on a daily basis,” said Steven Buchanan, the traffic engineer for Division 14 of the NCDOT. “[Roundabouts] are easy to use, help move traffic and provide safety benefits unavailable with stop signs or signals.”
Franklin drivers have gotten used to roundabouts over the last couple of years with new installations along Wayah Street. The new mini-roundabout follows the same rules and benefits from being smaller – it didn’t require extensive construction or detours and was ready in just a few days. The disadvantage is that it doesn’t offer as much room to maneuver as a full-size roundabout, so people will need to be patient with larger vehicles, especially school busses.
“Remember to give larger trucks and buses extra room, as they might need to straddle the lane,” said NCDOT spokesperson David Uchiyama. “Big trucks should use the concrete island
called the truck apron to maneuver around the roundabout.”
Superintendent Chris Baldwin is optimistic about the new installation and is impressed with how quickly it went up. He is a bit concerned about how school busses will handle the tight fit, but in the long-term, he expects that this will be a plus for the Macon County Schools community.
“It will take all of us some time to adjust, but we are hopeful that this will improve traffic flow,” Baldwin said.