New Blount County triple roundabout upgrades are designed to lower the number of serious wrecks at the busy intersections on SR-160 near I-65 (Exit 284).
For years, those interchanges kept Hayden police officers busy.
Since the department’s inception in 2019, responding to crashes on the roadway became a regular duty.
“I think that we counted an average of 20-30 accidents per year at that location, and that was just Hayden, not the State or County,” Hayden Police Chief James Chapman said.
Between 2020-2022, data shows there were 56 wrecks in the short section of SR-160, eight with injuries.
Back in 2014, ALDOT studied designs to combat wrong-way wrecks at 37 intersections like ones at Exit 284.
“The East Central Region embraced the statewide emphasis on improving safety in our project designs to lower the number of crashes and their severity,” Region Engineer DeJarvis Leonard said.
According to the Federal Highway Administration, roundabouts reduce conflict points and can lower serious injury wrecks by up to 80%.
At a public involvement meeting for the SR-160 design, nearly a third of the residents commented on a three-roundabout option.
ALDOT zeroed in on the three-roundabout plan and awarded Whitaker Construction the $11.34M contract in the summer of 2023.
By May of 2025, the triple roundabout design was open to traffic.
Chief Chapman said the new design has come with a bit of learning curve for some drivers.
“There is always the occasional driver that goes the wrong way around or someone who doesn’t read the directions or signs that are clearly posted or the failure to yield,” Chief Chapman said.
“But for the most part, it operates efficiently. It does exactly what it was designed to do, and that is to keep traffic flowing and moving.”
For details on how to navigate a roundabout, just click here.
Plus, his officers can spend more time patrolling the community than responding to wrecks at that location.
Since May, there were only a few minor crashes at the roundabouts, with zero injuries.
“Now that they are fully operational it may be one every two or three weeks. A huge difference!” Chief Chapman said.
Final signage installation will complete the SR-160 project this fall.
