UNION COUNTY, N.C. — Highway 200 at Providence Road shutdown Monday morning and will not reopen for three weeks while crews build a roundabout in the area.
Officials said new roundabouts show how much the area is growing. There are close to 40 roundabouts planned for the region – 11 are planned in Charlotte and 27 will be added in surrounding counties.
On Highway 200, there will be a total of four roundabouts added in the next three years.
[ [RELATED: Residents petition to make Union County intersection safer] ]
Some think the construction in the area will cause too much trouble for businesses.
"I think a four way stop would've been better than a roundabout. Right now this is hurting some businesses," driver Wilson Pierce said.
A store that sits on the corner of Providence Road and Highway 200 is planning to stay open even though the nearby intersection will be closed.
Others in the area think the roundabouts will save lives.
"There have been a lot of wrecks that have happened because of the intersection, but I think that the roundabout will really help prevent a lot of the danger," driver Mary Pierce Barnes said.
NCDOT says that safety component is why they're adding all the roundabouts. The state cites national studies that show roundabouts cut injury crashes by 75 percent and fatal wrecks by 90 percent.
Over the next three years, there will be a lot more projects like this one taking shape. Construction on more roundabouts is scheduled to start as early as next year although others may not break ground until 2030.
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