I spotted a story on WSFA yesterday about a new (to Montgomery) traffic scheme than has gone awry.
I had noticed lots of tire marks on the sides of the new "roundabout" traffic circles the city installed near the State Capitol, and intended to take pictures for a post explaining the rules of the roundabout, which as far as I can tell, many drivers in the city don't understand. It's really quite simple. Watch this short video I recorded at lunchtime today:
Anyway, the WSFA story about the roundabout wasn't about the rules of the road, but about the fact that the city was already tearing up the brand new road construction to reduce the circumference of the round median. Apparently the new road surface was too narrow for "larger vehicles". The cost to chop away the outside perimeter of the circle was described as "a few thousand dollars", but the big question was never answered. Who designed it? And has that company or employee been asked to make good for the extra cost of tearing it up and rebuilding it? The city's spokesman, Michael Bridell (who used to work for WSFA) told the station the project was a "win-win" for the city and its residents. How's that? Somebody screwed up the design, taxpayers are having to pay to have it fixed, and its a win-win? Hmmmmm. In that case I wonder what a lose-lose would be?
[UPDATE: Believe it or not there is a website devoted to roundabouts and traffic engineering. Maybe the city should have visited before building theirs?]
Roundabouts can be dangerous. There are several of them in New Jersey, on Routes 70 and 72 from Philadelphia to the shore. Getting into the circle, and out, can be rather hairy.
ReplyDeleteAnd, of course, there are the roundabouts in England, where everyone drives on the wrong side.
If Bridell usually talks like this, I'm glad he didn't become our mayor. Where was the state or city in this? didn't someone WHO KNOWS THE STANDARDS review the plan before construction was started?
I was first assistant in a graduate research project for the Department of Civil Engineering at UAH, perhaps seven years ago. We traveled throughout the state collecting data on roads.
ReplyDeleteDuring that period of time, I also studied roundabouts and investigated "traffic light" cameras, along with their legal ramifications, and provided my research and findings to the Madison County Legislative Delegation because the state was considering allowing implementation of them ("red light cameras").
To be effective, roundabouts must be wide enough to accommodate at least two vehicles, side-by-side, and large enough in circumference to permit them to change lanes effectively at slightly reduced road speed. Further, they are most effective in areas where numerous roads converge, not just the perpendicular intersection of one road with another.
Here in Huntsville, there is a traffic obfuscation which I have learned is (improperly) called a "roundabout" which was done exclusively to slow down traffic on a two-lane road in a neighborhood which is one block over from a four-lane major thoroughfare. Specifically, it is the intersection of Oshaughnessy and Russell Streets. Frankly, it amounts to a concrete barrier in the middle of the intersection. Nothing more, and certainly nothing less.
Any careful driver can drive straight through it, without rubbing the curb with their vehicle's tires. The ostensible purpose of creating that obfuscation - which I continue to call it to the city's engineers and others - was to slow down traffic - in both directions - in response to numerous ongoing complaints from neighbors.
I still travel the street, though I've never sped. Has it worked? Yet it may be too early to truly tell if it has caused reckless drivers and high-volume traffic to simply migrate one block over. At the major intersection of Five Points, just a few blocks away, traffic lights continue to regulate traffic, all with no problems.
As well, there's a somewhat larger roundabout immediately adjacent the HMCPL - Huntsville Madison County Public Library - at 915 Monroe Street, at the intersection of what was Heart of Huntsville Drive. Although the Google maps satellite feature doesn't accurately show it, there is a road running from Clinton Avenue to Monroe approximating the route of the former Heart of Huntsville Drive (which was behind the now demolished HOH mall). The road's name has, I believe, been changed to St. Clair Avenue. The curbs however, are sloped, rather than the more vertical type, with which most are familiar.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=915+Monroe+st+NE,+Huntsville,+Madison,+Alabama+35801&sll=34.734127,-86.584792&sspn=0.002041,0.003304&ie=UTF8&ll=34.723608,-86.590207&spn=0.001021,0.001652&t=h&z=19
Because the concept of roundabouts is fairly new in the U.S., it doesn't surprise me that mistakes will be made when governments (most typically local) attempt to implement them.