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Roundabout debate attracts interest on social media

Over 200 comments as of Monday morning and am amazing amount of information exchanged

Over 200 comments as of Monday morning and am amazing amount of information exchanged.That was the outcome of a posting on a Clearwater-based Facebook page by your editor on Wednesday morning, Jan. 2.

The posting said that the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure had postponed a public meeting on the roundabout scheduled for Jan. 14.

It appears the comments were mostly against the project during the first few days then gradually, as more evidence came in, switched to being more neutral or even slightly positive.

A turning point might have been on Friday afternoon when Kaitlynn VanderZwan and Dennis Greffard both posted links to a YouTube video titled “Roundabout Myth – Large Trucks.” Address of the video is www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nVzsC2fOQw.

The video was produced by Kittelson Associates, a transportation engineering company based in Portland, Oregon.

It explains that roundabouts can be built to accommodate large trucks. Most have truck aprons in the middle – a raised disk that gives trucks, buses and other large vehicles extra room to navigate the roundabout. It includes shots of an extra-long tank being taken through a roundabout.

The highly skilled driver not only uses every inch available to him, but every fraction of an inch.The video also showed an alternative used in some roundabouts – a bypass through the middle for extra-large loads unable to negotiate the curve (presumably this would have a gate to prevent unnecessary use).Before the video was posted, the consensus seemed to be that truck with extra-large loads would not be able to negotiate the roundabout.

After the video, the feeling seemed to be that, while some truckers would have to learn a new set of skills, any load being transported legally along Highway 5 would be able to get through.

VanderZwan also listed five advantages for roundabouts:1) Safety–Roundabouts have been shown to reduce fatal accidents by as much as 90 per cent and injury accidents as much as 75 per cent, while pedestrian crashes reduced by 30 – 40 per cent. The reduction in accidents is attributed to slower speeds and reduced number of conflict points.2) Fewer conflict points. Standard four-way intersections have 32 conflict points versus eight in a roundabout3) One-way operation. Vehicles travel in the same direction virtually eliminating the possibility of right angle or head-on collision4) Pedestrians only have to cross one direction of traffic at a time, which makes it more safe for them5) Reduces pollution.

Caroline Watson Jacobs Kuiper posted many of the comments regarding extra-large loads. The loads they move are often 16 feet wide or wider, she wrote. They never travel during the peak times. Their permit tells them when they can travel and where.It would not be cool to have to get through a gate on the roundabout if it is frozen in winter, she said.

Anita Cathomas wrote that very long truck trailer load combinations travel through Clearwater on a regular basis. Such loads are considered “superloads,” she wrote, and Highway 5 is designated a superload corridor. They move under special permit and only between midnight and 5 a.m. Having these loads disrupted by a traffic circle would be unsafe and unnecessary, she felt.

Several writers commented that the intersection at the Wells Gray Inn should have a higher priority than the one at the Infocenter.

“My dislike for this is is that it is being put in at the wrong intersection,” wrote James Cameron. “I've almost been in a few pile-ups there.”Sharon Chaytor posted information regarding the costs of roundabouts versus stoplights from the Wisconsin Department of Highways.

““The cost difference between building a roundabout and a traffic signal is comparable,” she wrote. “A roundabout may need more property within the actual intersection, but takes up less space on the streets approaching the roundabout. In addition to reducing congestion and increasing safety, roundabouts eliminate hardware, maintenance and electrical costs associated with traffic signals, which can amount to approximately $5,000 per year.

However, there are typically more overhead lights and additional maintenance with the central island landscaping or grass mowing at a roundabout.”