FREMONT, Ohio — Roundabouts are touted as being a safer travel option. However, in Fremont, there has been an increase in accidents at one particular traffic circle.
Terra State Community College partnered with the Ohio Department of Transportation about five years ago to install a roundabout on State Route 53 to act as a second entrance for the school's campus.
Since then, there have been 21 accidents there, but they are increasing in frequency.
Last summer, a motorcyclist was killed in a single vehicle crash.
According to Terra officials, most of the accidents are caused by northbound traffic not turning into the circle and subsequently hitting the central the median. Other times, the light poles along the outside of the circle have been knocked down.
Terra leaders have reached out to ODOT to figure out what can be done to make the roundabout safer, whether it's with more lighting, signage or rumble strips.
"What we hear is roundabouts are the safest way instead of doing a four-way stop or a stop sign. So, with numbers just increasing indicates to us that we need to do something just a little bit different," Terra State President Ron Schumacher said.
Terra administration is scheduled to meet with ODOT officials some time next week.