Lindon's city engineer City Engineer Kevin Smith says roundabouts aren't a cure-all to traffic ills.

Take, for example, two in his city. One — at 400 South and 600 West — operates just fine. Another at 400 East and 400 North, however, couldn't handle the large-truck traffic.

Eventually, city officials gave up and tore it out.

"It was not an improved street. It was not widened. It was a retrofit," he said. "That one just didn't work," Smith said.

By that time, however, folks who used it started to like it. The number of complaints received at its deconstruction nearly matched the count of callers who groused at its construction.

Smith believes a center island structure is critical to a successful roundabout.

"You want to discourage the yahoos from driving across the middle," Smith said.

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