Nearly two months to the day that Highway 171 north of Carl Junction, Missouri was closed at Routes 96 and YY, the highway with a new roundabout reopened, days ahead of schedule. The 10 million dollar project was originally projected to reopen on December 1.

James Howell with the Missouri Department of Transportation says the route needed to be upgraded and improved due to safety concerns. “We have had some accidents at this location in the past, due to that grade change and elevation. So the roundabout is getting implemented to, in part, to address some of those grade changes. And also from safety standpoint try to eliminate a lot of those T-bone type of collisions.” According to MODOT, the intersection handles about 9,000 cars and trucks daily.