New roundabout going in near Pony Pasture
You spin me right round, like a record.
In news that I’m sure will enrage some of you, the photo above was sent to me earlier this week by Melissa. I know there is a vocal group of H&H readers that are against these traffic calming measures but what about one near Pony Pasture?
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Richard Hayes
When Richard isn’t rounding up neighborhood news, he’s likely watching soccer or chasing down the latest and greatest craft beer.
Notice: Comments that are not conducive to an interesting and thoughtful conversation may be removed at the editor’s discretion.
I’m a supporter of traffic calming, but it would have been nice to have known about it in advance, through DPW, city council member or neighborhood association.
Finally! Those ponies won’t be galloping all willy-nilly.
Living in the neighborhood, I like the idea of it though it will actually steal some sway space that cars use to get around walkers and bicyclist as they pass there. Aesthetically, it should be a nice touch so long as it isn’t a concrete disc. The road there is strangely wide and disconcerting.
I live in the neighborhood as well, and I think it is a great idea! Hope they come up with something appealing for the center- plantings, rocks, etc. Perhaps whichever group constructed the newer Pony Pasture sign with river rocks could come up with an idea for this circle.
That intersection is always a bit awkward, with people cutting the tangent into oncoming traffic, particularly the faster rush-hour traffic. I think this will slow down the flow of traffic through this spot.
I agree with Jacob that it won’t leave much room for bicyclists and cars to share the north side of the circle. What it will do is line cars up properly for the Pony Pasture waiting line off the side of the road rather than having them make a u-turn. I wonder if that was the motivation for the roundabout.
It’s not clear from my photo but it’s pretty close to the Riverside/Riverside street sign, with lots of space on the Rockfalls side of the intersection.
Modern roundabouts are the safest form of intersection in the world. Visit http://tinyurl.com/iihsRAB for modern roundabout FAQs and safety facts. Modern roundabouts, and the pedestrian refuge islands approaching them, are two of nine proven safety measures identified by the FHWA, http://tinyurl.com/7qvsaem
The FHWA has a video about modern roundabouts that is mostly accurate (http://tinyurl.com/6v44a3x).
The safety comes from the ‘slow and go’ operation instead of the ‘stop or go fast’ way a stop light works. The smaller size of properly designed modern roundabouts is what makes them safer and keeps speeds in the 20 mph range. This makes it much easier to avoid a crash or stop for pedestrians. It also means that if a crash happens the likelihood of injury is very low. Safety is the #1 reason there are over 3,000 modern roundabouts in the US today and many more on the way.
interested in seeing how this works during peak summer parking season when cars will be backing up waiting for a space to clear, also expect lots of road runners and bikers to go against traffic to stay on riverside, plantings should be kept low to maintain visibility
We have lived near this intersection for 15 years, and walk through it daily. The first accident we have ever seen there was. . . last week! A car headed east ran straight into the guardrail, apparently swerving to avoid the traffic circle.