The installation of traffic circles in Jeremy Ranch and Pinebrook could begin next year near Interstate 80. But plans for the four roundabouts are still in the beginning stages.
“The problem we’ve got right now in Jeremy is, we’ve got people who are trying to leave in the morning and exit the area,” Summit County Public Works Administrator Kevin Callahan said. “And we’ve got people who are coming in trying to drop their kids off at school. Those two streams of traffic are conflicting with each other and so a lot of the commuters who are trying to leave are getting stuck behind people who are trying to drop their kids off at school.”
The number of cars in the heavily-traveled area between Rasmussen and Kilby roads justifies installing traffic signals near the freeway ramps, Callahan said.
“At the bottom of the ramp, [the Utah Department of Transportation] could justify putting in signals right now,” Callahan said in a telephone interview. “They really don’t want to do that because it would interfere with the traffic flow on the road going under the freeway, and also on the frontage roads.”
Roundabouts remove the need for traffic signals by causing traffic to flow in counterclockwise circles, Callahan said.
“Nobody has to stop, but people have to yield to each other as they are approaching the roundabout,” he said. “The traffic pretty much manages itself It is a little more self-sufficient, so we like that approach.”
But installing four traffic roundabouts in the area could cost about $3 million.
“We determined that we could justify four roundabouts there, one at each of the ramps and one at each of the frontage-road intersections,” Callahan said.
County officials hope to work with UDOT next year to construct two of the four traffic circles. The roundabouts are planned at the intersections of Homestead Road and Rasmussen Road, and Kilby Road and Pinebrook Boulevard.
The improvements would force those coming off the freeway to turn right.
“If they need to come back in the opposite direction they just make a loop around the roundabout and come back,” Callahan said. “It allows the ramps to function fully and it allows the frontage roads to function fully.”
Summit County and UDOT would likely split the cost of the project. The project has been studied and in a few months could move into the design stage.
“From my point of view, it’s a high priority,” Callahan said. “What we’re trying to do is come up with a way for managing traffic on that road that works for the neighborhoods.”