WHITE LAKE TWP. (WWJ) -- If you like roundabouts, you'll love Oakland County!
That's the vibe from the Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) who announced Friday, in partnership with White Lake Township, that it has opened the Elizabeth Lake Road/Oxbow Lake Road roundabout.
The roundabout is the 40th to open on an RCOC road, officials said in a news released, declaring that Oakland County continues to have the highest concentration of roundabouts of any county in Michigan.
And, like them or not, the Road Commission asserts that roundabouts are much safer to drive through than your traditionally intersection.
“National statistics show that roundabouts improve safety for motorists by reducing fatality and serious injury rates by 82%,” RCOC Managing Director Dennis Kolar said, in a statement.
The Elizabeth Lake/Oxbow Lake intersection, used by an estimated 15,500 vehicles each day, closed back on June 19 for the construction of this single-lane roundabout.
The $2.4 million project was funded by RCOC and White Lake Township and also included converting the Elizabeth Lake Road/Teggerdine Road intersection to a single-lane roundabout.
Both roundabouts are fully open to traffic.
This is the second new roundabout to appear in the county in a week's time. The RCOC opened the new Greenfield and Normandy roundabout, on the border of Royal Oak and Beverly Hills, last weekend.
Those who want more information on roundabouts and how they improve safety can visit the RCOC website’s informational page at this link.