Drivers in circles over roundabouts

LEHI — Carl Mellor admits it can be scary heading into the roundabout on Lehi's Main Street the first few times.

Mellor, well-known for his librarylike knowledge of Lehi's history, is convinced the European-style interchange was the key to solving persistent traffic jams that plagued the intersection just west of the railroad tracks.

Now if folks could just get used to it.

"Most people don't move directly into the traffic flow. They stop and wait until the whole circle is empty," Mellor said. "And people are very rude. . . . I'm almost happy when a train comes and stops traffic because then I can get on Main Street."

Mellor's home and business are just a block away from Lehi's roundabout, so he knew firsthand the traffic headaches that grew when a two-lane Main Street in a country town in a matter of years became the main corridor to three growing cities.

Engineer Kyle Comer said the Lehi roundabout — designed to handle up to 16,000 cars a day — seemed like the perfect solution to two major problems: Cars needed to be funneled through the intersection faster, yet motorists needed to slow down.

The campaign to gain approval for the roundabout's construction was bumpy, he said. Westerners simply aren't used to such a road design.