Frisco, in a roundabout way, is top in the state, 7th in the nation

With 61 existing, four under construction and 16 in the design phase, Frisco is leading the way for its number of roundabouts.

Frisco currently has the most roundabouts in the state and 7th-most in the nation, according to the consulting firm Kittelson & Associates, Inc., who ranks McKinney 5th in the state, with 38 roundabouts as of Dec. 12. Both cities are in one of the fastest growing counties in the state, Collin, which is expected to double in population by the year 2060, according to Texas Demographic Center projections.

The next closest Texas cities with these traffic-calming measures are El Paso, Cypress and Fort Worth respectively. Nationwide, Kittelson gives the top spot to Carmel, Indiana with 145 roundabouts.

Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney said many years ago, city officials went to Carmel to see it with their own eyes.

“In Frisco, we always like to be innovative and think through things differently, and don’t necessarily do things just because it’s the way they’ve always been done,” Cheney said. “So we started looking at roundabouts as a traffic mitigation tool.” Cheney said roundabouts provide a more pleasant driving experience.

You’re continuing to move, versus stopping at a light,” he said.

The mayor said roundabouts also create unique oppotunities for art, noting the ones being built on Fields Parkway have some pretty intricate design work.

Joel Fitts, Frisco’s transportation planning manager, said the reason for the city’s high number is efficiency. He said in some cases it eliminates the need to increase road lanes.

“One of the reasons we consider roundabouts is if we have a corridor that is currently four lanes, two lanes in each direction, if we can put in roundabouts and make the road stay efficient, then we would never need to widen it into six,” Fitts said.

Fitts said these new city roundabouts will be located on Frisco Street at the intersections of Research Road, All Stars Avenue, Sports Village Road and Technology Drive.

Frisco Street has developed over time in short sections, with four-way stops at some of the intersections. As traffic volume increases on roadways such as this one, officials determine whether to convert intersections to traffic signals or roundabouts.

Current daily traffic volume on Frisco Street, according to data on the city’s website, is 13,050 vehicles per day at Research Road and All Stars Avenue and 10,722 vehicles per day at Sports Village Road and Technology Drive.

Another reason for the abundance in roundabouts in Frisco is safety.

“Roundabouts are safer than traffic signals because they lower the chances of crashes and if a crash does occur, it’s much less severe,” Fitts said. “With traffic signals if somebody ignores a red light, it can be a bad crash but with a roundabout, it’s slower traffic and they’re moving around in a circle and not coming head on into each other.”

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, compared to other types of intersections, roundabouts reduce crashes by 35%, reduce injuries by 76%, reduce fatalities by 90%, and are generally safer for pedestrians because cars travel through them at slower speeds.

Because these four roundabout locations are on one corridor, they are being designed at the same time as one construction project, which also saves money.

Fitts said it is still early in the design phase, but the current cost estimate is between $7 million and $9 million, with funding coming from bonds. Construction should begin in the third quarter of 2024 and is estimated to be complete in the first quarter of 2026.

To help people understand how to drive on a roundabout, the city of Frisco has a webpage dedicated to it, with a video showing how to navigate multi-lane roundabouts, and rules which include yield to traffic on the left and do not change lanes until exiting the roundabout.