Des Moines considers mini roundabouts for 31st Street

State of play: Over the last five years, 31st and Cottage Grove experienced 33 crashes, and 31st and Woodland had 19 crashes in the same period.

• Two-thirds of those crashes involved failing to stop or yield at a four-way stop. None involved pedestrians.

Zoom in: City staff have brainstormed different ways to reduce crashes, including installing mini roundabouts or limiting left turns at the intersections.

• Mini roundabouts are compact and designed to fit into urban spaces and roundabouts can help reduce serious and fatal crashes by 50%, Davis says.
• Restricting left turns can also help with crashes, but it can have unintended consequences, like pushing traffic to a parallel street instead.

What's next: The city is hosting an open house to brainstorm plans and share crash data Tuesday from 5–6:30pm at Callanan Middle School.

• Davis estimates it could take about three years to install new traffic mitigation, pending City Council approval and funding availability.