In October 2009, the Providence Town Center began operations in Upper Providence Township. In conjunction with the development of the Town Center, numerous roadway and interchange improvements were completed along Route 29 near Route 422 to facilitate the flow of traffic and improve regional roadway conditions. Additionally, Arcola Road was extended around the rear of the Center to connect Route 29 with Route 113.

As part of one of the final phases of the Town Center development, Audubon Land Development and TPD coordinated with Township staff and officials to determine the best traffic control for the existing intersection of Arcola Road and Water Loop Lane, which would serve as the main public access to the final development phase. Given the existing characteristics of the roadway and future plans for both trail connections and bike lanes along Arcola Road, stakeholders determined the best approach to intersection control would be the implementation of a modern roundabout.

Since the roundabout was being provided at an existing intersection, there were several complex design considerations to be considered. Due to the travel speeds along Arcola Road, a high-speed roundabout approach geometry needed to be provided to help slow traffic to an appropriate entry speed. Prior to committing the roundabout geometry to plan, performance checks were completed to verify that the performance objectives were being met.

Since the Providence Town Center, and thus Arcola Road and Water Loop Lane, were recently constructed, the existing aesthetics of the area needed to be considered and incorporated into the final design. Once the design issues were coordinated with the stakeholders, the next major hurdle was to address construction of the roundabout, as Arcola Road serves a vital function in the Township by connecting two State roadways and provides access to the Providence Town Center. To facilitate traffic on Arcola Road and maintain access, TPD, in conjunction with the Township staff, designed a 7-stage construction phasing plan that met not only the travel way needs, but also the mobilization requirements of the construction contractor.

Throughout the lifecycle of this project, the developer and design team continually kept the end goal in mind by identifying the initial concerns of the municipality that Arcola Road served as a bypass route to residents that invited high speeds and did not provide any sense of entry to the Township. As a result, this roundabout, that can accommodate all transportation system users, is the ideal solution to keep end users safe, maintain traffic flowing, reduce speeding, keep nearby homes, businesses and trails accessible and serve as a gateway to the Township.