Residents of Manhattan soon will be going in circles - sort of.

A roundabout traffic structure will occupy the intersection of Fourth Street and Bluemont Avenue. It is planned to be completed by the beginning of the 2008 football season.

The decision for a roundabout at this intersection is a result of the Downtown Redevelopment Project and the changes that will be made to Fourth Street. Plans include widening the street to include a center turning lane to accommodate the increased amount of traffic anticipated on the street that soon will be the heart of the redevelopment project.

Robert Ott, city engineer, said project managers commissioned the Fourth Street Concept Study to find deficiencies in the traffic flow and ways to improve them. One of these deficiencies was the intersection of Fourth Street and Bluemont Avenue.

Two ideas emerged as solutions for the intersection - a traffic signal and a roundabout.

"The guidance we received from the city commission before we began the construction model was to go with the roundabout," Ott said.

Although the Manhattan City Commission approves of the idea, not all Manhattan residents are sold on having a roundabout instead of a traffic signal.

"One reason why people in this community are against them is the distaste for the traffic-calming circles," Ott said.

Traffic circles are used as slowing devices in many Manhattan neighborhoods. These one-lane devices are not the same thing as roundabouts. Ott said the size is the main difference, as the turn radius is much larger in a roundabout.

Roundabouts are safer than traffic signals when comparing injury accidents, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation. According to its Web site, www.kdot.org, fatal and injury accidents are reduced as much as 75 percent with roundabouts because of slower speeds and the reduced number of conflict points.

Ott said this is something they considered when choosing a roundabout for the intersection.

"There is a crash history at Fourth and Bluemont," he said. "It is people getting T-boned as they go across."

Overland Park, Kan., introduced a roundabout at an intersection near its convention center several years ago.

"Forty percent of the accidents we were getting was injury accidents or possible injury accidents," said Bruce Wacker, supervisory civil engineer in the City of Overland Park Traffic Division of Public Works.

The intersection averaged about nine injury or possible injury accidents per year when it was a standard intersection, Wacker said.

Since the introduction of the roundabout at the intersection, there have been no injury or possible injury accidents, Wacker said.

Ott said roundabouts also can be a more efficient way of moving traffic because there is reduced delay.

"At a traffic light, every time you switch phases you lose at a minimum four seconds," he said.

With each light cycle, there must be at least three seconds of yellow light and at least one second of red lights in all directions. The addition of a turning lane adds more time to the equation, which can cause driver frustration, Ott said.

"People's patience level is right around 60 seconds to sit and wait at a light," he said. "It's human nature."

Wacker said roads with higher traffic volumes function better with roundabouts because the intersection can accommodate a greater number of vehicles.

Ott said the city probably will accept bids for construction of the roundabout in March or April, and construction will last six to nine months.

The city contracted with HWS Consulting Group Inc. of Manhattan to design the roundabout. The city hired George Butler and Associates, an engineering and architectural company based in the Kansas City area, to review the plans.

The project also has support from the Kansas Department of Transportation, which offered a $600,000 grant so the plans can be reviewed by a third group, Kittelson and Associates based out of Portland, Ore.