Roundabout to be built at Oberlin-Elyria and LaGrange roads in Carlisle Twp. this year

County officials have started the process of turning the intersection of Oberlin-Elyria Road and LaGrange Road in Carlisle Township into a roundabout this year. The Lorain County commissioners on Tuesday authorized the county Engineer's Office to put the estimated $1.5 million project out to bid. A roundabout would enhance both traffic flow and safety at the intersection, which is set up in a way that Assistant County Engineer Robert Klaiber told commissioners has bothered him for years. Eighty percent of the cost of the new roundabout will be paid by the County Engineers Association of Ohio with federal safety grant funding, and the remaining 20 percent by the Ohio Public Works Commission. Federal funding was first approved in 2020. Once a winning bid is chosen, construction is expected to begin in the spring with a completion date in the fall, according to the county. Carlisle Township trustee Jared Smith said he was initially skeptical about roundabouts, but a roundabout at that intersection would be "a good thing" if it improves the safety of the community. "Safety is a primary concern," he said. Roundabouts are safer and more efficient than four-way stops and other traditional intersections, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation. ODOT said in September that crash data from 76 intersections in the state that were converted to roundabouts showed a 69 percent decrease in injury crashes at single-lane roundabouts and a 25 percent decline for multilane roundabouts. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.