MATTAWA - Traffic safety at the intersection of Highway 243 and Road 24 will be improved by next summer, according to Mattawa Public Works Director Gary Crowder.

Crowder told the city council on Oct. 14 that construction will begin at the end of February or start of March on the Mattawa Roundabout.

"The DOT says it will take 35 working days," Crowder said Friday.

That means the roundabout will be in place by summer. There will be no more left turns off the highway. There will be no more mad dashes across the highway by drivers on Road 24.

The project is estimated to cost $1.88 million. Those monies will come from existing WSDOT highway construction funds.

According to Crowder, the roundabout will be designed to allow big highway rigs without running over automobile traffic. It will have a 25-mile-per-hour speed limit. There will be amber warning lights on the highway 400 feet from the intersection.

According to the Washington State Department of Transportation, the intersection experiences 4,400 vehicles per day and "a large number of crashes."

There were 21 crashes involving 43 vehicles between Jan. 1, 2007 and Jan. 1, 2012. Nine resulted in two deaths and 22 serious injuries. Twelve other collisions led to property damage only.

"This project is anticipated to decrease the frequency and severity of accidents," the WSDOT states.

It cites the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which says roundabouts have been shown to reduce fatal collisions by 90 percent, injury collisions by 80 percent and total collisions by almost 40 percent.

One of the safety features, the WSDOT says, is a truck apron. It is the slightly raised inner lane which acts as an extra lane for trucks.

"When you see a trailer riding up on that raised concrete circle, don't worry," the WSDOT says. "That's what it's there for."