Stop wasting highway dollars on roundabouts
Very recently I read in the AnnArbor.com newspaper that construction is under way at the U.S. 23/Geddes Road interchange. It's the latest example of the roundabout mania sweeping our state. Since when and why do we need a monster roundabout at every major intersection? For years I have been driving across the Geddes bridge, dodging holes and the bumps of less than mediocre repair jobs. The surface there is beyond poor ... it is pathetic. I assumed that funds were not available to do anything about it, After all, we hear, Michigan is broke as is our county.
I do not have any idea which roads in our country fall under state or county jurisdiction...I don't even care much. All I know is that road repairing and building funds are obviously allocated by idiots. Why do I say that? Well, it seems that there is plenty of money to fund stupid, wasteful and unnecessary projects. We have money to build huge, land gobbling boulevards (Jackson Road, west of Zeeb, for example). This project was amazingly wasteful and took way too long to complete.
Perhaps a simple new and wider road would have been a better solution. It would have cost millions less and been completed much quicker without all of the disruption. Further, it would not require the costs to build and maintain the wide medians we now have. I marvel at the stupidity of this project in spite of the beautiful end results. Perhaps the officials who pushed this through could take a drive to Brighton. Go take a drive on Grand River Avenue, east of Old 23, and see what more intelligence and less money can accomplish. This is how Jackson Road west of Zeeb should have been done. Kudos the to officials who made those decisions in Livingston County. We hear that our state and county is out of money with no short term hope of a solution. If that is the case, why do we suddenly need to put expensive and land gobbling round-abouts at nearly every intersection that has a signal?
The Geddes project really was the last straw for me. Suddenly we have millions to totally change the landscape there and screw up traffic for a year to build a monster of a solution. This at a time of state and county poverty. I'd be happy with a wider road with new surfacing. This could be done in several weeks with minor costs and disruption. We do not have money to resurface terrible roads that are major arteries yet we can build roundabouts every place. Help me understand North Territorial is a major traffic artery and it is in abysmal condition. It's about like I imagine driving on the moon would be. Maybe if we build fewer roundabouts we could afford to maintain our existing roads to at least a mediocre level. Oh, about money and funding. Here's a suggestion. Why not enact a new additional gas tax of 10 or 20 cents? It would bring in a ton of money, encourage conservation and spread the cost over to every driver, even the out-of-state drivers. And since the price of gas fluctuates wildly and constantly, who would even notice another dime? The additonal revenues would get us a lot more federal matching funds. It's really too bad that the people in charge of spending our money have so little common sense of how to allocate or obtain more of it. If you have comments or solutions, please write letters. Our officials need to get a clue from some place. Michael D. McCollum Whitmore Lake
Comments
J. Sorensen
Wed, Jan 6, 2010 : 9:40 p.m.
It would help if people knew how to use roundabouts, but as Ann Arbor builds them, they don't instruct drivers. I have been nearly hit many times at the Nixon/Parkway r-bout by drivers who don't yield to traffic already in the circle and try to fly around it. Not to mention the danger to seniors and handicapped from Sandalwood just trying to make their way to Kroger. I think repaving and better timing on the lights would suffice.
Hot Sam
Wed, Jan 6, 2010 : 8:51 a.m.
Dave is spot on, however I would add the fools who tailgate and don't let anyone in...
Gfellow
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 9:26 p.m.
The roundabouts are cute. There simply is not enough cuteness in the World and I am firmly of the belief that the City of Ann Arbor ought to be the flag barer for cuteness, cost be damned. That exhaustive research shows that roundabouts save lives, well that's a nice extra bonus, but the cuteness factor trumps all.
David Briegel
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 9:02 p.m.
The only thing wrong with roundabouts are the people who are too cautious, timid or just plain stop when no traffic is present. If there are no cars immediately coming you should just continue driving. It is almost as bad as the slow traffic in the passing lane!
AlfaElan
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 5:46 p.m.
It seems to me either Mr. McCollum hasn't driven through Geddes and US-23 during rush hour and he obviously hates roundabouts. Geddes during rush hour is a complete standstill with cars trying to turn left without a light, cars trying to get off the freeway and cars trying to get on the freeway. SO my understanding is that the state put in for fed money to upgrade the area to accomodate the traffic which would include repaving. The traffic engineers decided a roundabout would be the right solution and I agree. Without a light to stop traffic the flow will be better with less gas wasting stopped time and every study I have seen shows there are fewer accidents on roundabout and what accidents there are were much less severe. but then I am biased since I have cars that enjoy going through roundabouts and I know how to yield.
theodynus
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 4:34 p.m.
Also, Top Cat, you're wrong about east coast traffic circles. Accident rates are higher in large-diameter traffic circles than in roundabouts. Roundabouts are the safe version of the terrible traffic circles that were built on the east coast. Different yield rules, different approaches, slower speeds, etc make the new ones much safer. Background reading: Traffic Circles vs.
theodynus
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 4:24 p.m.
Life is not simple. Do the roads stink? Yeah. But, would you rather sit still on smooth roads for many extra hours per year, or drive on bad roads? I'll take driving on the bad roads, thanks. Roundabouts are a cheap way to get extra capacity from the existing road network. Using roundabouts means we have _more_ money to spend on resurfacing, since we'll be spending less money building extra lanes. Complicating things is the fact that money doesn't come from one big pool. Communities get federal grants that need to be spent on specific projects or they lose the money. They can't apply for a multi-million dollar project to improve an intersection and then blow it on resurfacing roads instead. We're somewhat beholden to a much larger planning process going on at the federal level. Should the gas tax be higher? Yes. Does anyone have the political will to make that happen? No.
Top Cat
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 4:17 p.m.
JimBob is correct. Traffic Circles are more common in New Jersey and they are much larger in diameter and therefore much less accident prone. A agree with Mr. McCollum in that what is getting done and not getting done on our roads is baffling. I assume it has to do with where the funds are coming from.
ERIC MEYERS
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 3:51 p.m.
Well the answer is No we don't.With all the other things the city needs to address this is what the city is wasting time and money on.How about addressing UNEMPLOYMENT or Creating Jobs.
JimBob
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 3:33 p.m.
I agree about the new "roundies." I have used roundabouts in both Europe and in other US cities, quite effectively. However, the ones being built in Michigan are 'way too small in diameter. If traffic is even moderate, they are dizzying--and Heaven help you if you get in the wrong lane.
Barb
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 3:31 p.m.
I think it's worth the money if we can prevent serious accidents from occuring.