Whether you love them or hate them, another roundabout is on its way to Brainerd. In January, the Brainerd City Council approved a project to put a roundabout at the intersection of 4^th and Jackson Street, as well as extending a median from James to Jackson Street.

After a road study was conducted in 2016, it was found that a high number of crashes occur at the James and 4^th Street intersection as many vehicles try to make left-hand turns. The roundabout and median will hopefully reduce those crashes, and the project will also create a pedestrian corridor to make it safer for people traveling on foot and bike.

“Left turns are generally a bad move for crashes, especially when they are crossing four lanes of traffic,” Paul Sandy, Brainerd’s City Engineer, said. “So, the inclusion of a median only allows right-hand turns, which are generally not a conflicting movement to traffic. Then the roundabout is a way for the people that have to turn right, and head back the other direction, to get turned around and go the other way.”

The Minnesota Department of Transportation granted $800,000 to Brainerd through its Local Road Improvement Program, leaving the city and county to fund the approximately $300,000 remaining on the project.

The city is hopeful that construction on the project will begin in the spring of 2020.

By — Anthony Scott