Lee County looks to improve safety with roundabout at Buckingham intersection

Lee County is moving forward to build a new roundabout to improve traffic safety at the intersection of Gunnery Road and Buckingham Road in Buckingham. Officials say this is a dangerous intersection, where 10 crashes happened in 2019.

We spoke to neighbors Tuesday who live nearby the intersection, who say a roundabout at Gunnery and Buckingham is desperately needed.

“It’s very treacherous,” neighbor Jolene Near said. “It’s scary sometimes.”

Near told us drivers are often speeding down the roadways where they meet.

“Is just awful,” Near said. “I mean, the traffic sometime is just a steady stream, and cars go way too fast. It’s really scary sometimes.”

“You sit there waiting several minutes before you can actually pull out into traffic,” neighbor Jim Gilmore said. “Even then, you have to scoot out and try to beat the traffic because people come barreling down really from both directions.”

Lee County is hoping to slow people down and cut down on the number of crashes by replacing the road with a roundabout.

Near says she has seen and heard plenty of crashes at the intersection from her home. She remembers the 10 crashes at the intersection from the past year.

“I think I saw every one,” Near said. “It’s almost one a month. I mean, it’s like almost one a month. It’s a lot.”

Near and many of her neighbors like like the idea of a roundabout.

“Especially if there were 10 accidents there last year?” Gilmore said. “Yeah probably is necessary. It’s better than a light. I wouldn’t want a light there.”

Design for the roundabout is underway. The county hopes to be done with it by fall 2021.

Lee County wants community feedback on the project. It’s planning a meeting for next week, and members of the public can submit ideas in advance.

“I think it would solve the problem,” Near said. “I think it would be really great.”

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