Greater Sudbury's First Roundabout Opens Monday, November 25, 2019

The city’s first roundabout will be fully opened at noon on Monday, November 25, 2019,  as part of the Maley Drive Extension Project.  The partial opening of the city’s first roundabout, located on Lasalle Boulevard at the entrance of Collège Boréal, took place earlier this fall.

Traffic signals that currently direct vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians will be removed before the roundabout is opened on Monday.

This will be the city’s first roundabout on a major roadway, with two more slated to open at a later date as part of the Maley Drive Extension Project: one on Barry Downe Road at Maley Drive, and one on Maley Drive at Lansing Avenue.

Roundabouts have a number of benefits over traditional intersections, including:

• Safety: lower speeds and fewer points of conflict between vehicles. Crossing conflicts such as head on and right angle collisions are eliminated.
• Lower speeds: unlike at a green light at an intersection, vehicles need to slow down to use a roundabout.
• Higher capacity: high volumes of left turning vehicles is handled better by a roundabout than by a left-turn signal at a traditional intersection.
• Fewer stops and shorter delays: yielding at the entry of a roundabout takes less time than waiting for a green light at an intersection or for a gap in traffic at a stop sign.
• Less idling and air pollution: fewer delays reduces fuel consumption and improves air quality by reducing emissions.

Information was sent out to all residences in Greater Sudbury to help motorists, pedestrians and cyclists understand how to properly use roundabouts.  Additional educational material can be found at greatersudbury.ca/roundabouts.

The Maley Drive Extension Project remains on schedule and on budget, with Phase 1 of the new road scheduled to open by the end of 2019. Construction will continue into 2020.

For more information on the Maley Drive Extension Project, visit www.greatersudbury.ca/maleydrive.

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