Roundabout open at Windermere Road, Roberson Road intersection

After about a year of construction, traffic flow along Roberson Road and Stoneybrook West Parkway has gotten a bit smoother and faster. 

The intersection at Stoneybrook West Parkway, Windermere Road and Roberson Road now has a functioning roundabout. Traffic in the area is known for getting backed up because of the nearby Winter Garden Village and access to State Road 429. Although the roundabout is still under construction, it being operational is a traffic improvement. 

“The ultimate goal of the project was to alleviate traffic constraints and enhance the intersection safety,” said Jon Williams, assistant city manager of public works for Winter Garden. “Talking with our staff, inspectors and (judging by) visual observations when they actually made the switch into the final phase of construction, it had been indicated to us that traffic was actually flowing better through the intersection with the roundabout configuration in its current state.”

Construction for the roundabout currently is in its final phase and is expected to be fully completed by April 4. Traffic cones currently outline the roundabout, but they won’t be there in a couple months, Williams said.

“During the final phase of construction the roundabout is operational, but it is set up with traffic cones and signage,” Williams said. “During this final phase of construction, they will actually construct the lane separators and the roundabout itself.”

The city of Winter Garden wasn’t the only entity involved in getting a roundabout constructed at the intersection. Orange County and the city of Ocoee were involved in the project, as well, Williams said.

“They partnered with Orange County and entered into an inter-local agreement where the city would be responsible for the actual designing, permitting, acquisition of right-of-way, management and construction of the roundabout, and the county agreed to contribute $750,000 toward the project,” Williams said. “We also included with the bid some utility/water main extensions for the city of Ocoee, which they paid for that extension.”

In a 24-hour period, an average of 7,862 trips are made along Windermere Road, and an average of 11,603 trips are made along Roberson Road. The total number of trips made along Windermere Road includes both northbound and southbound traffic, and the total number of trips made along Roberson Road includes both eastbound and westbound traffic, according to a traffic-volume summary by the Orange County Traffic Engineering Department.

“There have been 17 reported (crashes) at that intersection since 2012, and nine total reported crashes in the last three years,” Williams said, citing statistics from the Winter Garden Police Department.