Town Considers Roundabout for Intersection of Dranesville and Park

The intersection of Dranesville Road and Park Avenue in the town of Herndon could be seeing a roundabout next year.

A roundabout, or traffic circle, is the preferred option of the town’s consultants, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin. Options for improving the intersection were discussed Thursday night at Herndon’s Mary Ingram Council Chambers.

The town began studying improvements to the intersection of Dranesville and Park about two years ago, after seeing many accidents, and getting many complaints from local residents.

Many of the accidents that take place at the intersection aren’t even reported. According to some residents, there are drivers who will go off the road, hit a tree, mailbox, house or other object, and continue on their way.

Bob Boxer, director of public works for the town, said speed is the biggest factor in crashes at the intersection, with drivers often taking the turn too fast. VHB consultant Charlie O’Connell said the most important improvement that needs to be made is slowing drivers down.

The first option for the intersection is to simply clean it up, O’Connell said. He said they would take Dranesville from Bennett to Park down to two lanes and construct a raised median on the road.

They would create a left turn bay for drivers going from southbound Dranesville and continuing onto Dranesville past Herndon Elementary School. New paint lines and patterns would complete the improvements.

The second option would be to create a full-size roundabout with a raised center. The roundabout would have truck aprons, so that trucks or other large vehicles would be able to drive over the edges to make the turns. Passenger vehicles would be deterred from driving on the slips.

The third and final option for the intersection is a mini-roundabout, O’Connell said. He said the mini roundabout would not have a prominently raised center, and if needed large trucks could drive over the center to make turns. The center would still be raised enough that it would deter passenger vehicles from driving over it, he said.

O’Connell said it has been proven that traffic fatalities drop by about 90 percent in an intersection when replaced with a roundabout. He encouraged those at Thursday’s meeting to drive through Gilbert’s Corner on Route 50 to experience a set of roundabouts built by VHB.

Residents questioned whether area drivers would know what to do when they come to the roundabout, and were concerned that unfamiliarity with it might cause accidents.

O’Connell said at first there is a learning curve for people to adjust to driving through roundabouts, but overall they calm and slow down traffic. He said even slowing down traffic means crashes that occur there aren’t as serious as in a normal intersection.

When driving in roundabouts, those who are approaching the circle have to yield to traffic within the circle, which has the right-of-way, O’Connell said. He said as long as there are cars, there will be accidents, but overall roundabouts are safer than regular intersections.

O’Connell said the drawings presented Thursday night are concepts only, and engineering can chance in the meantime to provide a better intersection for school buses, trucks, and improvements for pedestrians. 

The Herndon Town Council will be discussing the Dranesville and Park intersection improvements at its Aug. 3 work session at 7 p.m. at the Mary Ingram Council Chambers, 765 Lynn St. While work sessions do not provide the opportunity for public comment, residents who wish to address the intersection can write to the Town Council at town.clerk@herndon-va.gov, or to individual members of the council (email addresses can be found here).