Under Construction: 3 Roundabouts On Huffman Between New, Old Seward Hwy

Engineers project the roadway makeover will be completed by the first week of September.

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By Lauren Maxwell
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Story Created: Jul 18, 2011 at 5:22 PM AKDT

Story Updated: Jul 18, 2011 at 5:39 PM AKDT

A portion of Huffman Road is shut down and it will stay that way for the next eight weeks. The state is replacing traffic lights between the Old and New Seward highways on Huffman with three new roundabouts.

One of the new roundabouts will be located at Brandon Road so that traffic can flow more easily into the businesses lining each side of Huffman. Two more roundabouts will go by the entrance to the New Seward Highway for cars entering and exiting the ramps there.

State engineers say roundabouts are working out well in Anchorage and have proven to be much safer.

“Roundabouts, in comparison to signals, have less severe crashes,” says state traffic engineer Scott Thomas. “Traffic signals have a few fatalities. They can have major injuries when people run red lights, but at roundabouts you can’t do that—you can’t hurt people there.”

The project on Huffman will be built in two phases. The first one includes the roundabout on Brandon, which should take about three weeks to complete.

Once finished, construction will begin immediately on the double roundabouts located by the ramps to the New Seward Highway.

Engineers say the roundabout construction should be completed by the first week in September. Additional improvements will go into October. The finishing touches like landscaping may not be finished until next summer.

Businesses in the area will remain open during construction although there may be some detours to reach them.

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Louis Cifer said on Monday, Jul 18 at 9:26 PM

“Roundabouts, in comparison to signals, have less severe crashes,” because drivers avoid them. Anchorage drivers or engineers do not have a clue on how traffic circles should work.

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minki said on Tuesday, Jul 19 at 12:42 AM

I go out of my way to avoid those stupid roundabouts whenever I can! I HATE them.

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voiceofreason said on Tuesday, Jul 19 at 9:03 AM

Roundabouts are great for most of the drivers on the road. If you avoid them it's probably because you should. Thanks DOT for moving traffic more safely and efficiently.

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ScottRAB said on Tuesday, Jul 19 at 12:10 PM

Modern roundabouts are the safest form of intersection in the world. Visit www.iihs.org for safety facts. The safety comes from the ‘slow and go’ operation instead of the ‘stop or go fast’ way a stop light works (or the ‘keep going fast’ large traffic circle fantasy). The smaller size of the modern roundabout is what makes them safer and keeps speeds in the 20 mph range. This makes it much easier to avoid a crash or stop for pedestrians. It also means that if a crash happens the likelihood of injury is very low. Safety is the #1 reason there are over 2,200 modern roundabouts in the US today and many more on the way.

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