10 new roundabouts to be built on Hardin County roads

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (WDRB) -- Elizabethtown will soon be getting several more roundabouts.

Two new roundabouts were already built in the city in 2021. The state now plans to build 10 more. The project will cost the state $4.99 million.

The first location for construction is the intersection of KY 1136 and US 31W Bypass. It is the largest roundabout in the group.

"It's going to be much, much larger than people think of the two mini-roundabouts that are already built," said Chris Jessie, spokesperson for Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 4.

KYTC said it plans to build the roundabouts 2-3 at a time until all are complete, sometime in the fall of 2024.

Other roundabout locations include:

KY 251 at Pear Orchard Road
Dolphin Drive at Josale Drive
Commerce Drive at Executive Drive
Woodland Drive at Layman Lane
KY 251 at Panther Lane
KY 251 at Beech Street
West Poplar Street at Sycamore Street
KY 251 at West Poplar Street
West Poplar Street at North Mantle Avenue

KYTC says it tried to bid the roundabouts individually, but grouping the project together made the bid more appealing to contractors.

"They ended up getting grouped together to make them more enticing for that process to go through," Jessie said.

Despite the state's confidence that Hardin County needs the roundabouts for improved highway safety, some residents aren't thrilled about the roundabouts that already exist.

"This is useless," Mark Smith, an Elizabethtown resident, said pointing out one of the roundabouts. "This was a mistake. This was a waste of money."

But there are lots of opinions to go around. John Hartlage, who lives in Elizabethtown, is more accepting.

"I think they're fine," he said. "I think it's just a situation where people don't like change."

The two roundabouts constructed in 2021 are referred to as "mini-roundabouts" because of their size. However, the 10 additional traffic changes coming won't exactly resemble the existing updates.

Even those with roundabout frustration are open to a different model.

"The larger, the better, but these small ones, they don't work," Smith said.

Despite the frustration and disagreement among the community, both the state and residents encouraging the roundabouts believe now is the right time to help ease the flow of traffic and keep the roads safe.

"If they understood how they worked, they would like them," Hartlage, said of the critics. "They would work fine."

"When they're put in the right place and utilized in the right way, I think folks buy into them after they see them, but sometimes, unfortunately, it takes seeing them on the ground before they can buy in," Chris Jessie, of KYTC, added.

Construction on the first phase of the project is expected to begin Feb. 14.