MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — Residents in one Lakewood Ranch neighborhood are torn over a $2.1 million roundabout proposal. 

Country Club East resident Randy Roberts says a roundabout would do more harm than good at the busy intersection of Lorraine Road and Player's Drive.

While the county says the roundabout will include pedestrian ramps with crosswalks with flashing lights, Roberts says he's still worried about pedestrians and golf cart drivers.

"People will be seriously injured and killed on bicycles, walking (or) on their golf carts; that is irrefutable to mix those vehicles with up to 100,000 commuters with cars going north-south trying to get to work," he said. "We have an older population here, 60-65 years old; they are already scared to enter this intersection because it's extremely dangerous."

Roberts added the roundabout could also increase noise levels, pollution, and traffic.

“The proper way to handle that is with a traffic signal so anybody who is entering this high-flow traffic can wait and see; they then will enter," he said.

Other residents in the neighborhood like David Wiegand, who has lived in the area for nine years, think a roundabout could be beneficial – and would improve safety.

"Roundabouts are better for several reasons; it eliminates the most dangerous accidents possible,” he said.

Wiegand, who is also the co-chairman of the Resident Traffic Safety Committee, says the intersection has a traffic problem a roundabout would alleviate.

"There are no golf carts that cross at this intersection; it's just not safe; there are no pedestrians that cross,” he said. "I would like to see a roundabout because, unlike with a light that stops traffic, a roundabout increases traffic capacity."

Other residents weighed in at an informational meeting Wednesday night, which highlighted improvements to the intersection and designs of the roundabout.

The construction of the project is expected to begin fall of 2024 and be completed by late 2025.