U.S. Department of Transportation 

Federal Highway Administration 

ACCOMMODATING TRUCKS 

Engaging Freight Stakeholders in the 

Roundabout Design Process 

Location 

Wisconsin 

Strategies Employed 

D Provided designers access to 

truck training simulators and 

“ride-alongs” to gain a driver’s 

perspective with respect 

to maneuvering through a 

roundabout. 

D Developed representative 

freight vehicles in the WisDOT 

design library that designers 

can use to simulate vehicle 

travel through a proposed 

roundabout. 

D Established an “OSOW freight 

network” for WisDOT and the 

freight industry to identify 

intersections with particular 

OSOW needs. 

D Worked with trucking company 

managers on training to 

educate their drivers on proper 

navigation of roundabouts. 

Figure 1: Oversize truck entering a roundabout 

designed to accommodate OSOW vehicles. 

Roundabout intersections 

are purposely designed to 

improve safety and efciency 

through a combination of 

geometry and trafc control 

that results in reduced speeds 

and minimal delay. However, when the geometry does not adequately accommodate 

the needs of trucks and freight, unexpected complications can result. Working 

together, road agencies, freight company owners, and truck operators can strategically 

improve both the design of roundabouts and the ability of drivers to navigate them. 

IN WISCONSIN, AS BOTH FREIGHT TRUCK 

TRAFFIC AND THE NUMBER OF ROUNDABOUTS 

INCREASED, SO DID THE NEED FOR BETTER 

PARTNERSHIP AMONG STAKEHOLDERS. 

Background 

Figure 2: Roundabout with OSOW features. 

Positioned between two major freight 

generating metropolitan regions— 

Chicago and Minneapolis/St. Paul—the 

State of Wisconsin plays an important 

role in national and regional interstate 

commerce. Much of the state’s freight 

trafc is considered “pass-through” 

(i.e., neither its origin nor destination is 

in the state). Nearly 76 percent of the 

goods moving throughout Wisconsin 

are shipped by trucks. An important and 

growing category of truck trafc in the state consists of oversize/overweight (OSOW) 

loads, which have unique characteristics that set them apart from conventional trucks. 

Enhancing freight mobility is a top priority of the Wisconsin Department of 

Transportation (WisDOT). As Wisconsin businesses and consumers rely on a 

transportation system that allows freight to move in a safe and efcient manner, it is 

important that WisDOT respond to the needs of freight carriers. Accordingly, WisDOT’s 

long-range transportation plan, Connections 2030, includes a key policy linked to 

economic growth: partner with stakeholders to ensure that freight movements are safe 

and reliable and provide positive environmental and community impacts. 

The emphasis on safety is taken seriously by WisDOT, and this is refected in the Wisconsin 

Strategic Highway Safety Plan (2011-2013) (SHSP), which presents a “Zero Deaths” vision 

and stresses the importance of partnerships as the key to success in saving lives and 

preventing injuries. With intersections representing 26 percent of statewide trafc 

fatalities and 49 percent of non-fatal trafc injuries, the SHSP identifes “improving the 

design and operation of intersections” as one of the Highest Priority Issue Areas. Among 

several strategies for addressing this issue is to “increase the number of roundabout 

installations,” which WisDOT has done faithfully, in the process becoming a national leader. 

The combination of freight trafc growth, particularly the OSOW vehicles, and an 

increasing number of roundabouts along the state trunk highway network has led to a 

rare opportunity to collaborate with freight stakeholders on the design parameters and 

implementation process for these intersections. 

FHWA-SA-14-010 

Revised July 2020
Lessons Learned 

Outreach is most efective when it begins 

early in the process. 

Regular, proactive outreach improves 

communication between freight 

stakeholders and the road agency. 

Efective dialogue enables stakeholders to 

identify the true source of problems, which 

may sometimes be resolved with a simpler 

solution than frst anticipated. 

It is important to consider anticipated truck 

demands in new roundabout designs to 

extend the service life of the intersection 

and improve operations. 

Developing a relationship between 

industry and the road agency requires 

patience from the participants and a 

commitment to collaborate. 

Stakeholders do not all speak the same 

“language.” Ensure all parties involved 

understand the details of concerns, needs, 

goals, and strategies. 

Figure 3: OSOW roundabout design drawing. 

Wisconsin Points of Contact 

Peter Lynch 

Freight Operation Program Manager 

608.267. 4486

peter.lynch@dot.wi.gov

Dawn Johnston 

Freight Operations & Logistics Consultant 

920.539. 3324

dawn.johnston@meadhunt.com 

FHWA Point of Contact 

Jeffrey Shaw 

Intersections Program Manager 

FHWA Ofce of Safety 

202.738.7793

jefrey.shaw@dot.gov 

Approach 

To gain a better understanding of the issues, WisDOT’s Freight Operations section used 

consultants to develop a program of regular outreach to key freight transportation 

entities in the state. This efort was modeled on past successful outreach experiences 

and it was structured as a cooperative endeavor between the State DOT and 

freight community. The WisDOT Freight Operations consultant team obtained and 

incorporated industry input into design parameters and processes for roundabouts. At 

the same time, WisDOT was able to provide insight to trucking representatives on how 

roundabouts factored in to a safer highway system for all users. 

While WisDOT initially envisioned a program of outreach from the DOT to the 

freight community, the efort actually evolved into an efective means of two-way 

communication. The meetings resulted in a mutual understanding of the issues 

WisDOT and stakeholders face, some shared and some not. The discussions helped to 

identify, defne, and prioritize the concerns with the understanding that solutions may 

require compromise by one or more parties. Some of the issues are summarized in the 

table below. 

Shared Goals WisDOT Objectives Freight/Trucking Industry Objectives 

Roads that are safer, Construct cost-efective, A highway system that allows businesses to 

where fewer people balanced projects that thrive and add value to the state economy 

are killed or injured in 

trafc-related crashes 

serve all users well 

Roundabout designs that 

Intersections that provide adequate 

geometric space to maneuver efciently 

A highway system that 

is reliable and efcient 

achieve the necessary 

reduction in speed to 

ensure safety 

Drivers who are properly educated on 

how to maneuver roundabouts and drive 

defensively 

The public-private partnership has provided ample opportunities for stakeholder 

groups to address concerns, clarify misconceptions, and educate one another. 

This improved ability to work together to promote common goals has resulted in 

roundabouts that serve the freight and trucking industries better while still helping to 

achieve statewide intersection safety goals. 

Results 

The WisDOT Freight Operations consultant team’s outreach program has successfully 

demonstrated how cooperative eforts between WisDOT and the freight industry can

result in better intersection designs, and has expanded discussions beyond roundabouts. 

For example, at a meeting with specialized carriers that focused on OSOW issues, the 

WisDOT Freight Operations consultant team discovered that it would be benefcial 

to defne an “OSOW freight network” to help identify intersections where additional 

considerations for OSOW vehicles are needed, such as modifed truck aprons or 

removable sign post assemblies. 

The outreach program has also identifed driver education and instruction needs. A 

particular roundabout near a distribution center had an unusual incidence of loads 

shifting as trucks traveled through the roundabout. The Freight Operations consultant 

team met with stakeholders at the distribution center to discuss this issue and found 

that the shifting load incidents had some common sources, including incomplete driver 

training and improper methods of securing cargo. As a result of the meeting, the 

freight stakeholders identifed training needs and implemented solutions accordingly. 

This eliminated the need to make potentially costly changes to the roundabout. 

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