For better or worse, the city of Lawrence seems to be back in the roundabout business.

At tonight’s meeting, the Lawrence City Commission will consider a plan to seek federal highway funds to help pay for three projects aimed at improving safety on local streets. All three of the local proposals involve the construction of roundabouts at major intersections.

Two are on Harvard Road at its intersections at Kasold Drive and at Wakarusa Drive. The other is at 19th Street and Naismith Drive just south of the Kansas University campus. If federal funds are approved for the projects, construction of the roundabouts likely would occur in 2016-17.

If Lawrence residents want to know what these roundabouts will look like, they need look no further than the dual-lane roundabout that will be built this summer at Wakarusa and Inverness Drive. Even though the traffic at that intersection currently isn’t heavy enough to warrant the project, the city plans to proceed with it now as part of a larger Wakarusa reconstruction project. City commissioners reaffirmed that decision earlier this month despite receiving studies from area residents showing that such roundabouts may pose a hazard to bicyclists.

Increased safety is the main justification city engineers offer in their recommendation for more roundabout construction. They say that although accidents occur in roundabouts, they are less severe because traffic is moving slower. They also note there are “fewer conflict points,” but what about all the potential “conflict points” created by drivers trying to change lanes inside a dual-lane roundabout? There may be fewer severe accidents, but how many fender-benders occur?

Some residents also might question whether the current number of accidents at the three intersections where new roundabouts are proposed, warrant such a major change. According to a staff report included in the City Commission agenda, in the last three years, there have been 11 crashes with two injuries at Wakarusa and Harvard, 13 crashes with one injury at Kasold and Harvard and 17 crashes with two injuries at 19th and Naismith.

Zero accidents and zero injuries — to motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians — certainly should be the goal. However, it might make sense for the city to see whether the dual-lane roundabout at Wakarusa and Inverness actually produces the desired result of fewer accidents and smoother traffic flow before making a major commitment to additional roundabouts at key intersections in the city.