North Baltimore to Receive City's First Traffic Roundabout

Baltimore’s first “mini-roundabout” has been approved for the intersection of 39th Street and Canterbury Road, city officials said.

The traffic-calming roundabout is being placed at that intersection because of community concerns about pedestrian safety, inadequate sight lines and traffic speed, according to an email from Department of Transportation spokeswoman Adrienne Barnes.

The Federal Highway Administration’s website describes a mini-roundabout as an alternative to a stop sign or traffic signal “to help improve safety problems and reduce excessive delays at minor approaches.”

According to the Federal Highway Administration, the mini-roundabout provides all the advantage for traffic calming as a regular roundabout, but is smaller and has no elevated circular concrete barrier at its center. Instead, the flow through the circular intersection is designated by painted lines.

Construction costs for the roundabout and a construction schedule aren’t known yet, according to Barnes. She wrote that the concept has just been sent to the department’s transportation engineering division for final design. 

The Tuscany-Canterbury Neighborhood Association voted to approve the roundabout project in late June.