Construction crews have started work on a new roundabout at the intersection of Three Notch Road, Dawes Lane and Dawes Lane Extension in Mobile County, marking the county’s second such traffic feature. County spokeswoman Nancy Johnson confirmed the project is underway, with the one-lane roundabout expected to take as long as seven months to complete.
A Federally Backed Safety Project
The intersection overhaul carries a price tag of roughly $536,000 and is being funded in part through the Federal Highway Safety Administration under the High Risk Rural Road Program. Mobile County holds the distinction of being the first county in Alabama to receive federal dollars for a roundabout project through that program, underscoring how seriously officials have taken safety concerns at this particular crossing.
County officials pursued the funding specifically to address a pattern of right-angle collisions at the Three Notch and Dawes intersection, a type of crash that tends to be especially dangerous for drivers. Roundabouts are designed to virtually eliminate that risk because traffic moves in a single direction around the circle, removing the head-on and T-bone crash scenarios common at traditional signal-controlled intersections.
Why Roundabouts Cut Down on Crashes
Beyond eliminating right-angle and head-on collisions, the circular design also forces drivers to slow down as they approach and navigate the intersection, which further reduces the severity of any crash that does occur. It also does away with the stop-and-go delays typical of a signalized intersection, since vehicles can continue moving through the roundabout as gaps in traffic allow rather than waiting on a red light.
National crash data backs up the safety case for the design. According to the Federal Highway Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, roundabouts have been shown to reduce fatalities and incapacitating injuries at intersections by 67 to 80 percent, along with a 35 percent drop in crashes of all types once a roundabout replaces a conventional intersection.
What Drivers Should Expect
With construction underway, drivers in the area should expect detours and are being urged to use caution navigating the work zone over the coming months. The project adds to a small but growing list of roundabouts around Mobile County, as transportation officials continue looking for ways to improve safety at intersections with histories of serious crashes.