Traffic Runs Smooth At Once-Controversial Roundabout

The once-controversial roundabout at Visitation Drive and Mendota Heights Road has swerved around any major negative impact on area traffic, according to a traffic count by the Mendota Heights public works department.

The results of the transportation tally were announced at the Tuesday night City Council meeting.

In 2009, plans for the roundabout sparked controversy. Neighbors from the area were concerned that the roundabout would increase traffic on Lake Drive from two nearby schools, and . Others anticipated increased accidents.

Instead, the news from the roundabout is positive.

“We’ve determined there has been no negative effect on the Rogers Lake neighborhood,” said City Engineer and Public Works Director John Mazzitello.

During the approval process for the roundabout, the Mendota Heights City Council requested traffic counts both before and after the installation of the roundabout to gauge any changes. The counts were performed at five specific spots in the area. 

“We did the vehicle counts on the same three days both before and after the roundabout was installed,” explained Mazzitello. “We compared the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of the fourth week of April in both 2010 and 2011. We wanted to make sure we were comparing apples to apples.”

The numbers display negligible changes in traffic. The most significant increase in traffic appeared on Mendota Heights Road between Dodd Road and Visitation Drive.

“That’s likely because cars are now more easily able to turn left on their way out of Visitation,” Mazzitello concluded.

The calculations show that drastically increased traffic along Lake Drive has not come to fruition. The average number of vehicles went up by just four cars on Lake Drive east of Dodd Road, while the number of cars and trucks went down by twenty on Swan Drive just north of Lake Drive. The average number of cars turning from Mendota Heights Road onto Lake Drive decreased by several hundred.

“That’s a pretty dramatic decrease in the number of vehicles there, which I think is an indication that you can now take a left hand turn off of Visitation Drive,” commented Council Member Liz Petschel.

Mazzitello assumes that the new numbers will silence any remaining desire to close the Rogers Lake area off from school traffic.

“The fact is, these are public roads, and there is still going to be people using them,” he stated in a conversation before the meeting. “If the numbers had come back with significant increases in traffic, it would be a different story.” 

According to Mazzitello, the overall change in traffic counts add up to a “less than five percent difference,” and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

“In the public works department, we’ve heard nothing but compliments,” said Mazzitello.