That may be true!

But the “roundabout” works just fine and is far superior to a stop signed intersection.

If you must be critical, put the blame where it belongs which is right on the shoulders of unqualified and/or incompetent county / city traffic staff.

The proof that “roundabouts” are effective can be seen all around the world.

It should raise red flags in your mind when only Sonoma County has a problem with them. :)

1  4

Stand against them for reasons WAY beyond their illogical face value.

As I’ve pointed out they represent criteria for grant money eligbility.

The grant money will be used to install the hardscape that tyrants and oppressors historically prefer. Where the people can be contained. Mao, Hitler, all rounded up the farmers and country people.

If they can’t meet the grant money guidelines, their “planning” will be thwarted for now.

Which will give folks more time to wake up.

Kudos Greg Karraker and everyone who voted and supported Measure U. You might have done a greater service to your communities and freedoms than many even know.

9  2

THe circle on McDowell and Caufield is WAY too small. Whomever diesigned the one on Peteluma Blvd South must have been trippin! Two lanes crush into one and then back to two?

Traffic circles are not really the problem and there are situations where they are appropriate, the problem is fools who place them poorly without considering reality.

I do agree that crossing as a pedestrian or moving through as a bike rider is pretty scary. It seems like many drivers see the yeild signs, get confused and focus on merging into the circle making it hard to stop for the crosswalk on the edge. If you look at the crosswalk spacing at McD and Ely, it works because there was enough room for a proper sized circle.

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8  17

Mr. St. John is either too new in his role or, like most of the rest of city government…. he’s not paying attention.

Could it be that the continued long wait times at traffic lights in commute directions, when there is no cross traffic needing the light, is part of the grand master plan to sell more of the rubes on the efficacy of wasting money on roundabouts? Caulfield routinely backs up onto the over crossing on commute mornings because the intervals on the traffic light covering north / south on Lakeville are set for far too long a time. If Mr. St. John’s engineers set the lights at reasonable intervals, like most other cities do, then the traffic would flow and we wouldn’t need any more ridiculous roundabouts planted in the middle of arterials.

But the words of a city engineer in response to my complaint about a roundabout still echo…. “just slow down”. That, in the final analysis, seems to be their goal.

10  5

Leaving aside the issue that there may not be enough room for them in many locations (I agree), they nevertheless save money over traffic lights.

That money could be used to improve road maintenance. What is needed is a study identifying appropriate locations for roundabouts, and documenting the savings that could then be devoted to road maintenance.

But I see two real problems: resistance to any change, and the fear that drunken wine tasters wouldn’t be able to handle the roundabouts.

Irony abounds.

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18  7

The point about more rear-end accidents and less T-bone crashes is important. Many California drivers believe a yellow light is a signal to step on the gas pedal. Now, will government put them only where space is sufficient?

One thing about California, no matter what someone wants to do, others will denounce it as evil. It’s no wonder government here is dysfunctional.

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That is all.

13  21

As others have said, this is not Europe and thank God for that. If it were up to many Europeans we would have swans swimming in our creeks and rivers and small children running around singing its a small world in German.

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On the northern edge of Petaluma, hay and other feed trucks simply cannot pass through the traffic circles on both Magnolia and Corona and must make long detours around them. Other large vehicles, such as buses, delivery vehicles, garbage and fire trucks are forced to crawl over the inner curb. This action twists and tortures the vehicle frames, leading to breakage and other damage far sooner than would occur under normal circumstances. Law enforcement officers and ambulance drivers are greatly hampered in their duties when encountering the obstacle that is a traffic circle. They just hate them.

I had a conversation recently with a member of management of a very large nationwide delivery service. (Hint, they drive brown trucks) I asked them about traffic circles. The response was that they have less T-bone crashes because of them but far more bumper to bumper incidents.

One aspect that I have never read about traffic circles is the very real danger they present to bicyclists and pedestrians. If the traffic never stops, then vehicles never stop having the right-of –way so a pedestrian can have it and cross the street safely. I visited Humboldt Street in Santa Rosa last year to see that mess for myself. There was simply too much for drivers to do in merging in and out of the traffic circles to have any time at all to look for pedestrians. I felt frightened trying to cross that street. Bicyclists have to merge with the vehicle traffic well before the traffic circles and do the same look left, steer right maneuver. And don’t get me started on bikes needing to rapidly accelerate and decelerate as traffic circles often require.

So if you want to put in roundabouts here, give them enough space to work properly. 116 and Mirable in Forestville and Arnold Drive at Agua Caliente Road in Sonoma both need to be large enough to accommodate a big rig safely. Do it right or shut up and stop wasting taxpayer money.

17  5

Adherent municipalities civilly engineers polarity between cyclists and motorists.

This is ICLEI directed.

If you have any doubt search ICLEI Complete Streets; the results go on and on.

They have great resolve to appease their globalist masters because it’s implementation is part of criteria for grant money eligibility.

Let’s say you have a town on a major blvd./hwy. in any town USA, four lanes with a center left turn provision. Looked the same way for generations. Lined with locally owned property and small local business’ that have defined the town for as long as anyone can remember.

Then comes the town’s ICLEI Charter membership (that the citizens have no knowledge of).

They’ll bribe the town with grant money and train the planners how to impose their hardscape.
First you reduce this main artery from five lanes to two, with a center divide to prevent ingress approximately half the time. Then you make big wide accomadation to bikes. Then you call an ICLEI parking consultant, they’ll have your down town parking reduced by 15-20% with planters and red curbs, etc.. Then they install “parking kiosks”. “Mixed Use” zoning makes everyone non-conforming (which is like a salvage title car in commercial real estate) bringing everything in decline in preparation for…Smart Growth.
The Roundabouts screw the property owner/retailer that paid a premium to have a captive audience on the corner for a minute or two at the red light.

True to the ICLEI model, the elected officials are reduced to rubber stamp change agents creating an illusion of normality, when nothing could be further from the truth. The unelected City Mgr., planners, “boards” and councils (COGS ‘n MPOs) set forth the directive which is incentivized and thoughroly outlined in their UN training material drafted by the American Planning Association. Big books like Growing Smart and Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide are on the desk or shelf of all the planners in the US.

They’re in a hurry ’cause One Bay Area is comin’ to town and they want that big MTC/ABAG grant money.

Contained next to trains, propaganda, fluoride, neighbors turning in neighbors, disarming the populace; this is starting to remind me of another time and place in the 1930s.

That didn’t go very well.

Is this ‘The Final Solution’?

24  8

The city and county governments need to stop wasting money on these planning “innovations” and instead concentrate on maintaining the road surfaces which, through negligence, have deteriorated badly in many places. Period.

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