PERRYSBURG, Ohio — A roundabout could be coming to what's been called a problematic intersection in Perrysburg Township, where Five Point Road converges with state Route 199 and Dunbridge Road.
The combination of five directions of traffic combined with some extreme angles of approach has led to the intersection being a constant location for accidents.
Kim Coutcher, a transportation engineer with the Ohio Department of Transportation District 2, said between 2020 and 2022, there were 12 accidents, six with injuries and one fatality.
"It's a failure-to-yield crash, so people are pulling up to the intersection and are either becoming impatient while waiting for gaps in traffic or they're just not paying close enough attention to the traffic that's on (state Route) 199," Coutcher said.
ODOT and Perrysburg Township are working to construct a five-leg roundabout to make the intersection safer.
The total project would cost just under $6.5 million. Perrysburg Township would fund $1 million of the project.
"If successful, this will actually be a five-leg roundabout," said Perrysburg Township Administrator Jon Eckel. "t'll be a little bit different than what most people are used to but it'll make it much, much safer."
ODOT District 2 tried to fund the project once before with a state grant but it was not chosen.
But recently, the criteria at the state level has been adjusted to a minimum of three crashes a year with 30% of those crashes having injuries or fatalities.
"ODOT applied for a grant that was not successful, but the crash data has gone up and [ODOT] feels this time we might have some luck," Eckel said.
The application for the funding is due at the end of March, with approval expected sometime mid-summer.
"I don't think we have any five-leg (roundabouts) up here in District 2 yet, so it'll definitely be an interesting experience being able to design one up here for us," Coutcher said.
If ODOT District 2 does receive the funding for the construction, the roundabout is expected to be fully complete by the 2029 fiscal year.