DECATUR, IN — Officials from the City of Decatur held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday for a roundabout that had been in the works for several years. To celebrate, attendees were able to break in the new intersection or learn how it works — with golf carts and UTVs.
“There were many people who were nervous the entire time. People are unused to roundabouts. “It’s the first roundabout in our county, so some people are nervous, which is why we’re bringing out golf carts tonight,” Decatur Mayor Dan Rickord explained.
The Five Points Intersection roundabout encompasses four roads just south of downtown Decatur and aims to improve traffic safety and mobility while also bringing existing curb ramps up to ADA standards.
- Adams Street
- Mercer Avenue
- South 2nd Street
- Winchester Street
According to the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT), roundabouts are intended to reduce fuel consumption and air pollution while saving municipalities money on electricity and maintenance costs.
Rickord and several residents at the ceremony told WANE 15 that the intersection’s multiple entry points made it difficult to navigate and increased the risk of a crash.
“When you’re on Adams Street, you don’t know if the [other] person is turning on Adams or going to fly down Winchester Street right here, so people would put their turn signal on, and people had no idea if they were turning before or after them,” Rickord told me. “It just seemed confusing. There were many more near misses than accidents, but there were also some accidents here.”
The ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the completion of a project that began about 15 years ago and went through several city administrations before Rickord.
The project faced numerous challenges over the years, including changes in planning and layouts, as well as the intersection’s location in a neighborhood designated for historic preservation.
“It takes a long time to complete these projects… “It’s great to cross the finish line today,” Rickord said.
Many people who attended the ceremony supported the traffic change, but Bryan Jordan, a resident who lives near the roundabout, believes it will increase traffic and cause confusion on the road.
“People don’t know how to yield coming around here,” Jordan pointed out. “Everybody believes they have the right of way.
The roundabout took more than three months to complete, and it is now open to traffic.
