Agencies all over the world are looking to roundabout art to provide aesthetically pleasing options to roundabout real estate that is otherwise difficult to maintain. As we continue along our Roads 2.0 series, I’d like to share a Q/A session I had with Brad Emerson, Special Projects Director with the City of Bend, Oregon regarding their successful roundabout art program.

Upon arrival into Bend, I stopped into the “Visit Bend” visitor center, picked up a map showcasing their collection and participated in a self-guided tour of their “Roundabout Art Route”.   They have turned these impressive works of art into an opportunity to promote tourism.  It also provides a firsthand look into the infrastructure changes and growth happening within their community.

Two of the biggest benefits of roundabouts over traditional intersections are 1) reduced delay to traffic, and 2) improved safety through less severe crashes. And while the shape we most often associate with roundabouts is the circle, these two benefits can be attributed to another shape...the triangle.

Drone / UAV technology is a boon to our industry and the technology is providing high quality and cost-effective data acquisition. However, there are significant risks associated with the use of UAV, making it essential that your vendor is properly insured to mitigate these risks.

You're pushing for project completion, but that long punch list just isn’t getting done fast enough. Sound familiar? Drawn-out project closeout costs you time and money. Often, this is caused by reassignment of contractor resources to their next project or difficulties scheduling with subcontractors. Expedited project closeout can be achieved by tracking and communicating project deficiencies in real time using an open issues log.