Posted on 08/29/2015 3:14:16 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
Like other Wisconsinites, Rob Miller doesn’t know how many traffic roundabouts the Wisconsin Department of Transportation has installed on state highways since DOT started replacing selected intersections with roundabouts 15 years ago.
Unlike other Wisconsinites, Rob Miller is a DOT spokesperson.
“I don’t know. I don’t have those numbers,” Miller replied when asked how many roundabouts DOT has installed since 2000.
In 1999, there were two traffic roundabouts in the entire state. Two years ago, the number was 268. At the time it was reported DOT had plans for more than 100 additional roundabouts.
Miller acknowledged DOT has more roundabouts in various stages of planning but didn’t know how many.
“We know there’s a lot of interest in roundabouts, so we’re gathering all the numbers and facts and putting them into a report. It should have the answers to all your questions,” Miller told Wisconsin Watchdog.
When will that report be released?
“I don’t know,” Miller said.
It’s that sort of vagueness that inspired State Rep. David Craig, R-Vernon, to draft a bill that gives local municipalities the power to reject any DOT plan for a roundabout.
“I started thinking about this after attending a DOT public hearing in 2012, regarding a proposed roundabout on Highway 20 in East Troy,” Craig explained. “I asked the DOT engineers if they had taken into consideration what had just happened in Waukesha County with a roundabout that had to be reengineered and what that might mean for the one they were now proposing. They said they had not heard about the problem even though it was right up the road from East Troy.”
In 2012, a roundabout in Waukesha County at the intersection of Highways 59 and 83 had to be expanded less than a year after DOT installed it because the department had misjudged the traffic flow of the intersection. That expansion cost taxpayers $165,000.
Miller didn’t have any information on how many roundabouts have required alterations after installation.
“I’m concerned they are not being deliberative enough when it comes to deciding where to place these roundabouts,” Craig said.
His bill would allow the governing board of a municipality to veto DOT’s decision to replace a local intersection with a roundabout.
Craig introduced a similar bill during the past legislative session, but that bill never made it out of committee. DOT strongly opposed the bill.
“It’s not just that people don’t like roundabouts and finding them stressful to drive through, they also affect local businesses. In the hearing last session we heard from businesses who said their trucks had to alter their routes and drive miles out their way to avoid roundabouts, because they are difficult for large trucks to use,” Craig told Wisconsin Watchdog.
“We’ve also heard since then from beverage companies who say that because of the way the roundabouts are engineered in our state, the loads on their delivery trucks will shift and that can cause thousands of dollars in breakage.”
Traffic roundabouts started becoming more common in the United States in the mid-1990s when the U.S. Department of Transportation began pushing state transportation agencies to install them.
Traffic engineers favor roundabouts as a way of decreasing both the number and severity of accidents. Roundabouts force motorists to slow down and since all traffic flows in the same direction, the opportunity for head-on or T-bone collisions is eliminated.
Studies in Wisconsin show a 9 percent drop in accidents after an intersection is replaced with a roundabout.
“I agree that roundabouts can have an impact on improving safety. They make people slow down. And that’s what I want DOT to do, too. Slow down, be more deliberative, gather more input from local officials, local residents and local businesses. Make sure a roundabout is really appropriate for a location and that it’s engineered correctly for that location,” Craig said.
“I don’t think local officials will just automatically oppose new roundabouts. But I think giving them the power this bill does will lead to a better give-and-take between local officials and DOT, and make local input more impactful.”
“From what I can tell, DOT is going to be continue to be aggressive on constructing these things. But the final decision shouldn’t just be made with a DOT rubber stamp,” Craig said.
NJ has eliminated most Traffic Circles. A TC is much, much larger than a roundabout and has much more traffic. NJ is actually installing roundabouts, e.g., one four miles from my house and another ten. Both are working well.
It requires a bit of effort to understand a roudabout but, once it’s done, they really work well. I go through two every day and the way to and from home. The first took a three way stop intersection that was a real nightmare during rush hour and really improved the traffic flow. The second, about a mile and a half from home changed one of the most dangerous intersections in the county into one that’s far easier and safer to get through. They are very good things to have in many cases.
I'm not buying that at all! I don't know how many times I've almost been nailed by someone who was supposed to yield to me........
I absolutely hate those things
“I absolutely hate those things.”
Lol! I agree.
Not a fan of roundabouts but the biggest problem is the idiots behind the wheels of the cars - you can make anything fool-proof but you can’t make anything damn-fool-proof...
I read an article on a similar DOT meeting where three alternatives were presented.
1. Same intersection with dedicated right-turn lanes ($400.000).
2. Same intersection with dedicated right-turn and left-turn lanes ($700,000).
3. Two lane round-about ($1,200,000).
When the DOT representative was questioned about the expense of the round-about, people were told “not to worry, the federal government subsidizes the majority of the round-about expense.”
A high-school junior, attending the meeting (for a civics class assignment) asked “why is this intersection being considered for change when there have been no fatalities.” Also, “what about semi traffic through this intersection to many of the manufacturing companies in the nearby industrial parks.”
A high school junior asked the best questions of the meeting. The rest of the attendees had been programmed already...
Post of the day...
Right on the money!!
So they're doing away with the "Michigan Left"?
They could just consider a “painted on” roundabout as used in some locations in the UK - which has had roundabouts for centuries...:^)
Big trucks can just roll over the centre if needed.
Sedona, Arizona has put in many roundabouts, but I think to mainly slow down the tourists. If the radius is large enough, and the divided highway entrances/exits designed right, the restriction on flow is not too great -
There are two "roundabouts" under construction in SE Kenosha, WI, just North of the Illinois border. The two county roads intersecting the first roundabout have been there for years and got by just fine with a four-way stop sign. I was driving back from N IL and took the County road home as a 'shortcut'. I didn't get very far before I saw 'Detour' signs directing me back to the roundabout I'd just passed through. It seems the county road I'd picked was blocked by further construction connection the old highway to the city streets (which it always had been to start with.)
I went around again and followed another county road which entered roundabout #2 (did I mention both RAB's were finished except for planting grass!) as you might guess #2's only exit led to another detour which took me back to #1.
Same plan as #1 the county had opened the RAB before all the work on the connecting roads was finished! I was in Highway Hell and the only way out was to retrace my steps and drive back on I-94 which took me for for a long drive through Northern IL.
Regards,
GtG
PS I hate the damn things as most drivers still don't know how to "merge' two single lanes into one. It's far worse than changing lanes at speed on the Expressway. Sharing the lane with Buses or a 'Double Bottom' Semi can be a real challenge!
Bfitm
I live in the SE corner of the State and we get our share of Illinois traffic on the I-94 corridor. People in Wisconsin can keep up and go with the flow!
A few years ago Milwaukee County placed 'timer controlled traffic lights (red/green)' at the entrance to the on-ramps. They were universally hated and didn't last for long before they were yanked...
Regards,
GtG
I absolutely HATE the roundabouts. We have 3, count ‘em, 3 in 2 blocks. There is one near our home also. And, one in the middle of nowhere. So, 5 of these stupid things when they were not needed at all. I have seen accidents, people sitting there not knowing when to go and praying the guy barreling down the roads knows we have the right of way.
Oooops, my bad. It is 2 in one block. The third one I was thinking of is the one near my home.
Regardless, I am talking Hwy 33 in town. Watching the truckers going around these twice in one block is scary!
I have one on the way to work in Huntsville. Very easy to figure out!
At one of those meetings where the DOT was trying to jam this proposal down our throats, my husband stood up and asked how many people there (some dressed in overalls, like farmers) were from the DOT, or worked as highway consultants. About 2/3 of the room raised their hands. The rest of the room revolted because they knew, suddenly, that they’d been set up by Doyle’s boys.
BTW, they always seems to have those meetings at 4 pm when honest folks are still at work.
How many people have been stuck in a roundabout going round and round?
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