A third roundabout will be added to the Ole Miss campus at the intersection of Coliseum Drive, Hill Drive and Hathorn Road.
The University of Mississippi Department of Facilities Planning has made plans to implement a roundabout in an effort to increase time and gasoline efficiency.
The new roundabout will be built at the intersection of Coliseum Drive, Hill Drive and Hathorn Road by the Gillom Sports Center and the Ole Miss Softball Complex.
The Mississippi Department of Transportation is providing the majority of the funding for the roundabout with the rest of the money being provided by the university.
MDOT’s grant is for $500,000 and the expected total cost for the construction will be somewhere between $500,000-$750,000.
Ian Banner, director of facilities planning and university architect, said there is a great deal of traffic at this intersection during many times of the day.
“At 8 a.m. when the traffic police have to come out, it clogs up,” he said.
“At 4:30 (p.m.) to 5:30 (p.m.) it clogs up and the same with the exiting traffic after football games.”
Banner is in the process of interviewing and hiring an engineering firm to design the roundabout. He hopes that the roundabout will break ground next month after the designs are finalized and said construction should be finished in 12-18 months.
During construction there will be a slight detour around the Gillom Sports Center, but the intersection will remain open.
Banner said traffic from both lanes will still be able to flow through the intersection during that time.
Banner also said that the current campus roundabouts, one by the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium and the other on Old Taylor Road, have worked well and proven effective.
“When you consider there are four main arteries coming to the point of the upcoming roundabout, a four-way stop is not particularly effective,” he said.
“The new roundabout will, in a nutshell, just keep things moving.”
MDOT will also be funding a new roundabout on Old Taylor Road, adding to the existing two off-campus roundabouts in Oxford, both on Lamar Boulevard.
This addition is still in the planning phase and no definite plans have been made, according to Banner.
