LEHI — A new roundabout just across the railroad tracks on Lehi's Main Street has some drivers bewildered and frustrated.
Sometimes, they're just plain dizzy after going around and around, trying to figure out which way to go.
Still, the roundabout at 500 West has been meeting expectations in the month since it was installed, said Lorin Powell, Lehi's engineer.
"As far as we can tell it has been doing its function," he said. "It's obviously a busy intersection. That will never change."
Lehi city officials, working with the Utah Department of Transportation, decided more than a year ago to create the roundabout to help control traffic flow on the busy street.
An estimated 14,000 cars travel Main Street daily.
"We did a lot of planning and coordination and traffic evaluation," said Kyle Comer, project manager and consulting engineer for Lehi City.
"Essentially, we determined that a roundabout would meet constraints better than a traffic signal," he said.
The roundabout slows traffic — one of the city's main goals for the project. "It makes it a safer intersection," Comer said.
While residents were skeptical about the roundabout at first, many are pleasantly surprised, he said.
Roundabouts are relatively new to Utah, although Provo city and Utah Valley State College both use them.
"It's an educational process," he said.
Drivers should yield to the left and slow down upon entering the roundabout. Once inside, drivers should go about 15 miles per hour and should not stop.
Bicycles should use the same movement as vehicles, and pedestrians should use designated crosswalks.
"A lot of people aren't used to it and don't know how to do it," said Garrett Brown, who lives in Lehi.
Brown worries about the difficulty of navigating the area in heavy traffic and the roundabout's location near a railroad crossing.
Comer said that while traffic in the area backs up when a train passes, it clears quite quickly after the train leaves.
Stephanie Nixon cringed at the thought of a roundabout here when she saw construction on the intersection.
"I think it's the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen," she said. "It is the biggest pain to get on Main Street during rush hour . . . It totally slows down traffic."
The roundabout cost about $250,000. Since UDOT controls three of the four legs of the intersection, UDOT and Lehi city are each paying a portion of the cost.
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