Cass County officials revisit building roundabout at problem intersection

CASS COUNTY, Mich. --- A potential fix could be coming to a problem intersection in Cass County.

A number of accidents at the Redfield and Gumwood Road intersection near Niles have prompted officials to reapply for funding to make improvements.

The Cass County road commission applied for a state grant in early August to fund a roundabout to alleviate the problems. Funding was previously denied for the project last year.

Joe Bellina with the road commission says after conducting a study, it was decided that a roundabout would be the best way to help traffic flow.

 “It’s hard to look over your shoulder to make a left turn and it allows traffic coming off of Redfield to make a right turn onto southbound Gumwood at an accelerated speed,” Bellina said. “We took a look at a couple different options and what came out in the end was that a roundabout would allow traffic to negotiate the intersection in a much safer manner.”

Bellina said if the state grant is approved construction will start up in the next year or so.

The roundabout will take up a bit of space on the three surrounding properties at the intersection but Bellina said that the property owners are all on board with getting construction started to make the area safer.