SPARTANBURG COUNTY, SC (WSPA) – Most people have driven through a roundabout at some point, and now Spartanburg County wants to add more roundabouts.

Traffic officials said this was their way of ensuring the safety of drivers in any situation.

“One thing about a roundabout is that it always works, even if the power goes out, it still works,” said Billy Martin, engineering director for the Spartanburg County Transportation Commission. “If there’s a traffic light there, it stops working and it’s chaos. So it’s reliable.”

Construction began last week at the intersection of Berry Shoals and Apple Valley Roads. 7NEWS was told that a month-long detour on Apple Valley Road is planned, weather permitting.

The district stated that there had been 43 accidents in the two years that the project was being planned. Roundabouts, it was said, were proven to slow down traffic.

“This is intentionally slowing down vehicles,” Martin said. “We will not prevent accidents, we just hope that we can reduce the number of accidents resulting in serious injuries and deaths.”

Due to the high number of accidents at this intersection, drivers in the area said they were looking forward to the roundabout.

“I’m all for building a roundabout at this intersection. It gets a bit tricky when we drive through there, so I think it’s a great idea,” said Patrick Griffey, a local resident.

The county’s transportation committee said there are more troubling statistics circulating at this intersection than most other intersections.

The district announced that the roundabout would be completed in two months.

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