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Forest Hill Road - return to Roundabouts

 

Newnan, Georgia's 1st Roundabout 



Roundabout_Newnan3.jpg

http://www.times-herald.com/Local/Roundabout-almost-did-not-get-off-the-drawing-board-733106

Published Sunday, May 03, 2009 in Local


Roundabout almost did not get off the drawing board

By Sarah Fay Campbell

The Times-Herald

Newnan's roundabout is the traffic improvement that almost wasn't.

In February 2005, Newnan Mayor Keith Brady suggested the city ask engineers to study the feasibility of a roundabout at the intersection of East Broad Street/Lower Fayetteville Road and Greison Trail/East Newnan Road. Design work for a traffic light and turn lanes had been completed back in 2001.

In May 2005, the Newnan City Council requested bids for a roundabout design. The design work was completed in late 2005 but called for a roundabout 134 feet in diameter.


At the time, it was estimated that a roundabout would cost $293,732, compared to $510,315 for a traffic signal and turn lanes.

In December 2005, the council voted 5 to 2 to solicit bids for the roundabout work.

No bids were received the first time around. In the second round of bidding, there was one bid -- for more than $900,000. The bid was unanimously rejected in May 2006.

The issue came up again a year later, in May 2007, in a city council discussion.

But it wasn't until March 2008 that things got serious.

The Newnan City Council voted 4 to 3 to build the roundabout in April 2008. Voting against the roundabout were Cynthia Jenkins, Clayton Hicks and Bob Coggin.

In June, the council approved the sole bid for roundabout construction. The $520,838 bid was submitted by Southeastern Site Development.

The roundabout opened to traffic on Oct. 28, 2008.

Hicks said he voted against the roundabout because so many of his constituents asked him to. Since the intersection opened, "a lot of them have come to me and said 'we were wrong, it's great. It's not what we expected,'" he said.

Many of his constituents wanted a stop light at the intersection, he said. "I think people were having trouble conceptualizing" the roundabout, and how it would work. "I did too. Mentally, I just couldn't wrap my head around it," he said.

And he thinks many people had preconceived notions based on the roundabout in Whitesburg. There were also issues with a roundabout in the Calumet development. Both roundabouts are much smaller than the one at Greison Trail.

"Until you actually drive it and you see it... it's like buying a house without ever looking at it," Hicks said.

A few months after the roundabout opened, Coggin expressed during a council meeting how pleased he was with it.

"I did something that politicians, and elected officials, rarely do. I admitted I was wrong," Coggin said.

Coggin said he was worried that the roundabout would not handle the volume of traffic that goes through the intersection, and was also worried that the roundabout wasn't big enough. "And knowing how people in Newnan sometimes drive... I was worried about the flow," he said.

People who based their opposition on experiences in Whitesburg were justified because "if you tried to run the volume of traffic in Whitesburg that we run on Lower Fayetteville and East Broad -- you would have a disaster," Coggin said.

He wishes it were a little bigger but "I am very pleased with the way it is working."

Jenkins was the most outspoken opponent of the roundabout, and was particularly concerned about pedestrians trying to make their way through the intersection.

Hicks said he is still concerned about pedestrians.

Jenkins could not be reached for comment
 
  
 
Roundabout accident free during first six months
By Sarah Fay Campbell

The Times-Herald

The naysayers said it would be a disaster and a waste of money. Some said Cowetans could never negotiate it and predicted traffic backups and frequent accidents.

Instead, in the six months it has been open, Newnan's roundabout has been more successful than anyone could have ever imagined.

"To tell the truth, it has exceeded our expectations," said Cleatus Phillips, Newnan's director of community development, and a driving force in bringing the roundabout to the intersection of Lower Fayetteville Road, East Broad Street, Greison Trail and East Newnan Road.

"We were confident it was going to work, but we never expected the results we have gotten out of it," he said.

So far at least, the circular intersection hasn't been the site of a single accident, said Newnan Police Chief Buster Meadows. Not even a tiny fender bender.

Meadows said the biggest problem with the intersection is some people think they need to come to a complete stop before entering the roundabout.

Before the roundabout, getting through the intersection in the afternoons was an exercise in frustration. Especially on the East Broad Street side, traffic could back up far enough to cause waits up to 10 minutes, Phillips sad.

Now, at peak times, "there may be three or four cars lined up, but within 20 seconds, you are through the intersection."

Phillips drives through the roundabout just about every day going to and from work. "We knew it was going to improve the traffic flow in rush hour, but we didn't expect it to completely wipe out the delay," he said.

He's tried to find backups -- by going to the roundabout just after 5. But there haven't been any.

Phillips thinks that opposition to the roundabout being built was mainly based on a fear of the unknown. "It is not your normal traffic improvement," he said.

During the roundabout discussion, The Times-Herald was full of editorial page opinions from people who said Cowetans could never figure out how to drive through a roundabout.

Another big concern was whether large trucks and school buses could navigate the intersection.

There was quite a lot of design and engineering work done to solve that problem. The roundabout is actually wide enough for two lanes. The inner portion is a slightly raised concrete median that provides ample space for trucks to get through. Phillips said the inner portion is raised because he didn't want people thinking it is a two-lane roundabout, but it allows for trucks to "get around it without running through the grass or up on the curb."

And just to make sure, the planning staff marked out the roundabout in tape in a parking lot, and had a truck driver go through it. "We watched the truck maneuver and made a few modifications based on that test," Phillips said. One of those modifications was making the raised median almost twice as wide as originally suggested.

Not only did the roundabout end up costing about 40 percent less than a traffic light, it works a lot better than a signal ever would.

"There are certain situations when a roundabout is going to have definite advantages over a signalized intersection, and this intersection fit those parameters almost perfectly," Phillips said.

So will there be more roundabouts in Newnan's future?

There aren't any plans on the books now, Phillips said. But "any time we have a potential intersection project, we will definitely evaluate whether a roundabout is feasible," he said. "I'm not saying it is going to work perfectly because this one works perfectly -- you've got to have the room to put it in, you've got to have the traffic parameters."

But, "I think the chances are pretty good we may build another one at some point in time."
http://www.times-herald.com/Local/Roundabout-accident-free-during-first-six-months-733105





 


 
Published Tuesday, May 05, 2009 in Opinion


City, county should consider roundabouts when planning intersection improvements
Editorial

After years of talking, planning, taking bids and rejecting bids, the Newnan City Council approved a roundabout at the Greison Trail and Broad Street/Lower Fayetteville Road intersection.

Six months later, just about everyone is ecstatic with the results. The best part of the news is the safety factor. Newnan Police Chief Buster Meadows says there has not been a major accident reported at the roundabout.

Even two of the council members who voted against the roundabout say they are pleased with the results.

http://www.times-herald.com/Opinion/City-county-should-consider-roundabouts-65758

Motorists are also happy -- primarily because there are no longer traffic delays at the intersection, which previously had a four-way stop. In the four-way days, it was not uncommon for traffic to back up more than a quarter of a mile during morning and afternoon drives to and from work. All that's changed -- no more congestion, no more backups.

Cleatus Phillips, the city's director of community development, has long been the chief proponent of the roundabout. He says he has tried to find traffic backups at the roundabout, but there haven't been any.

"We knew it was going to improve the traffic flow in rush hour, but we didn't expect it to completely wipe out the delays," said Phillips.

But it has.

The roundabout must be one of our community's biggest intersection improvement success stories. The roundabout was a near perfect solution to the Greison/Broad/Lower Fayetteville intersection -- much, much better than a traffic signal. There's always delays in two directions with a traffic light.

We hope our officials continue to consider roundabouts when making intersection improvements. A roundabout is not always the answer, but in some locations it is the answer -- the best answer.






http://www.times-herald.com/Local/One-minor-traffic-accident-reported-at-roundabout-735290

Published Tuesday, May 05, 2009 in Local


One minor traffic accident reported at roundabout
By Sarah Fay Campbell

The Times-Herald

Newnan's roundabout has been the scene of one minor accident after all.

Newnan Police Chief Buster Meadows contacted The Times-Herald to say a minor accident had been reported on April 20.

Meadows said he was contacted by the victim in the accident and went to double check the records after an update on the roundabout appeared in Monday's Times-Herald.


The wreck occurred when someone entered the roundabout too soon, striking the victim's car on the right rear bumper. There was only minor damage, and no charges were filed, Meadows said.

The at-fault vehicle was entering the roundabout from Lower Fayetteville Road when it tapped a car going through the roundabout, Meadows said.

Despite the accident, "I'm still 100 percent for the roundabout," Meadows said.

Newnan Councilwoman Cynthia Jenkins, who was one of the most outspoken opponents of the roundabout project, said she has been pleasantly surprised by how well the roundabout has worked.

"I had a few concerns about the volume of student traffic, but it has worked surprisingly well," said Jenkins, who drives through the roundabout several times a day.

Jenkins, like many other Cowetans, said her only real experience with roundabouts was "the horrible one in Whitesburg. If it were going to be like that, I knew it wouldn't be something the city wanted," she said. "It turned out we had a good design."

Her biggest concern was with pedestrians trying to cross through the roundabout, because traffic never stops.

"I haven't seen a large volume of people walking just yet. I think a large part of it has to do with the weather," she said.

"I just don't know how pedestrians will fare out there. I hope people are super safe and nothing happens with that either," she said.

"Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised that it works as good for them as it does for cars."







 
 
 

See Char: 

   Roundabout in Elligay, Georgia

Macon's Police Chief, Mike Burns visited Ellijay, Ga at end of October, 2005. He saw a roundabout in the middle of their town square. "I observed the traffic for 30 minutes and everything flowed smoothly."  

Here is an interesting article about this Roundabout at http://www.gwinnettforum.com/2003issues/03.0930.htm

See a nice zoom-in map of the 6-way intersection at http://maps.google.com

 


Citizens want Roundabouts



 



  

  


  

  Blog 
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/cobb/stories/2007/09/04/roundabouts_0905.html

Cobb considers circular solution for traffic woes


The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 09/05/07

As metro Atlanta searches for more ways to solve its traffic tie-ups, governments are reaching for lessons from across the pond.

The latest solution is to keep traffic moving, albeit slowly.

It is the roundabout, popular in Europe.

Cobb County is considering building its first roundabouts, in the western section of the county on Villa Rica Road, which handles nearly 11,000 vehicles per day.

The single-lane roundabouts proposed for west Cobb would have a diameter of about 115 feet and cost close to $1 million, including acquiring rights of way. They would be financed by the county's 1 percent sales tax approved by voters in 2005, county officials said.

County officials are testing public sentiment about installing two roundabouts on Villa Rica, one at West Sandtown Road and another about 150 yards east at Irwin Road.

"The roundabouts are safer than traffic signals, and they operate as efficiently," said Joe Fletcher, a Cobb traffic engineer, who made a presentation recently in the west Cobb neighborhood.

Anne Guerrero, who lives off West Sandtown, wasn't buying the concept. She drives the intersection at least twice most days, and sees the traffic on Villa Rica is nearly double that of West Sandtown.

"The dominant flow will control the circle," said Guerrero. "They need to put a light in there."

But another commuter was more open to the idea.

"It seems like traffic would flow better. I'd lean toward a roundabout," said David Gallion, who lives in a subdivision off West Sandtown.

DeKalb County put in a roundabout on North Decatur and Lullwater roads, and is moving forward on another at North Decatur and Oxford Road, at the entrance to the Emory University campus.

Atlanta has installed smaller versions on Peachtree Hills Avenue, more to slow traffic than regulate intersections. A roundabout is the focus of Smyrna's rebuilt town center, and a few smaller circular islands dot subdivisions and shopping centers.

The state has built roundabouts in Douglas and Dawson counties. Both are fairly new.

Proponents cite a 39 percent decrease in total crashes, with a 76 percent reduction in serious crashes and a drop of 89 percent in crashes that are fatal or produce incapacitating injuries.

The statistics are drawn from a federal study of 24 roundabouts that replaced traffic signals or stop signs.

Critics claim multiple-lane roundabouts lead to more side-swipe accidents and that roundabouts can be disorienting, especially for new and elderly drivers. After installing roundabouts, Columbia, Mo., posted instructions on its Web site telling motorists how to negotiate the traffic device.

The west Cobb roundabouts would replace a four-way stop at Villa and West Sandtown, which carries about 6,000 vehicles each day, and a stop sign on Irwin Road, which sees about 4,000 vehicles daily. A street from a subdivision under construction also will dump traffic onto Villa Rica across from Irwin and flow into the circle.

The Villa Rica/West Sandtown intersection is at its worst in the evening when west-bound traffic on Villa Rica can back up for 500 yards and spill onto Barrett Parkway.

The roundabouts keep traffic moving because the typical speed to enter a roundabout is 10 to 15 mph.

Drivers still move, instead of sitting at a stop sign or traffic signal.

Single-lane roundabouts can handle up to 18,000 vehicles daily, according to Bill Baranowski, a traffic engineer in suburban Salt Lake City, who said he has helped design 88 roundabouts in a dozen states.

How difficult could it be for metro Atlantans to learn to drive roundabouts?

Cobb resident Gallion has an answer:

"Welcome to Atlanta," he said. "We don't know how to drive anyway."

article:
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/cobb/stories/2007/09/04/roundabouts_0905.html



Watch a Rush-Hour, time-lapse video here:
 

It turns out that roundabouts may be part of the panacea for our greatest traffic woes. Across America, towns and cities of all shapes and sizes have been choosing modern roundabouts over antiquated signalization equipment and expensive grade separated interchanges. The choice of a roundabout, or a modern roundabout, rather, makes sense for several reasons: they have proven to improve the flow of traffic, reduce cost, improve safety, and enhance the quality of place.

The idea of a “one-way rotary system” was first proposed in 1903 for Columbus Circle in New York City by William Phelps Eno, “the father of traffic control.” The Columbus Circle roundabout was built in 1905, and the idea quickly caught on in Western Europe. The first modern roundabouts in the US were installed in Nevada in 1990; but it has been a slow progression, after 104 years we only have about 1000 modern roundabouts in the entire country. France, on the other hand, leads the world with an estimated 15,000 modern roundabouts, and has been building them at a rate of about 1,000 per year.

One of the most touted benefits of modern roundabouts is their ability to improve traffic flow. Studies by Kansas State University have measured traffic flow at intersections before and after conversion to roundabouts. In each case, installing a roundabout led to a 20 percent reduction in delays. The proportion of vehicles that had to stop – just long enough for a gap in traffic – was also reduced. Because of their ability to reduce congestion, the Department of Transportation (DOT) of New York, Arizona, Wisconsin, Washington State, and Oregon, are at some point in the process of developing a modern roundabout program.
It may seem counter-intuitive, but modern roundabouts can actually improve safety while improving the flow of traffic. In March 2000, a report was published by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety entitled A Study of Crash Reductions Following Installation of Roundabouts in the United States, which demonstrated that roundabouts reduce crashes by 75 percent at intersections where stop signs or automated signals were previously used for traffic control. According to the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), there are several reasons why roundabouts are safe: 1) Low travel speeds – because drivers must yield to traffic before entering a roundabout, they naturally slow down, 2) no red lights to run – roundabouts are designed to keep traffic flowing without requiring vehicles to stop, so the incentive for drivers to speed up to make it through a yellow or red light is removed, and 3) less potential for serious crashes – since vehicles all travel around the center island in the same direction, head-on and left-hand turn (T-bone) collisions are eliminated.
Congestion and safety are often discussed, but what’s not often discussed is the ability of modern roundabouts to greatly improve public space. Increased safety promotes biking and walking, which increases the vibrancy of the place, activates the street, and has several other multiplier effects that can create a destination. Therefore, roundabouts can play important roles in creating a destination, not just an area people drive through.

In many instances, the roundabout itself can become a place. By adding a sculpture, water feature, benches, or other architectural feature that will attract attention, the roundabout can become a community focal point and even a gathering space. When you’re giving directions, meeting friends after work, or walking your dog, you may find yourself heading towards the roundabout. Now, how often have you walked your dog to the grade separated interchange?

Traditional intersections can serve as points of identification for a community, but they do not add to the sense of place. They are often dangerous places that are to be avoided. Modern roundabouts, however, afford opportunities for streets to be places, and allow the community to reclaim intersections as community space.

Please see an image of a Michael Wallwork designed roundabout that PPS proposed for a project in British Columbia. The image is an overlay of our roundabout proposal, on top of a traditional “jug handle” design, which proposes long and wide on and off-ramps. As you can see, the roundabout preserves a significant amount more land than the alternative design. The land preserved by the roundabout includes a park, residential development, and a community arts center; all very important community assets that would be severely compromised if the jug handle were built.


You Tube - Roundabout Videos:
 
Very entertaining:
Music Video +++
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXi-b77oRA8&NR=1
Modern Roundabout in Clifton, NJ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZJHvjMu_z0
Roundabout in Chattanooga TN 
12.wdef.com
well produced

Another music Video
- girl-band vocals "spinning around" with a disco beat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guixyA0rz_M&NR=1
 It's all about "ENGLAND ROUNDABOUTS and Driving on the WRONG Side of the Road!!"


Racing around the roundabout - -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nijZZfjHGdw&NR=1
How to go effect(ive)ly through a roundabout? - sideways skid
 

Clovis, NM Roundabout Crash  (Single Car with brain dead driver)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jesf4xFOg1Q&NR=1


why do we have traffic lights ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WU8hilbN9Y&feature=related

Big Crash at Vietnamese Intersection
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIFc6RmKUWU&NR=1
Amazing!

Big Crash at Russian Intersection
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r5bClOqhjQ&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2n_XEBasQg
Roundabout with Miss Kittin - Disco Rave - TimeLapse into headlight evening dusks of northern wintry climes
http://www.roundabouts.ca/



Roundabouts in Ladera Ranch, Orange County, CA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpcQe7RwEkY&NR=1
SIlent sped-up landscaped nicely

A world without traffic lights
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Mefb3Y2gGw
England multiple rounds sped-up silent w subtitled wisdom
 


Example of a configuration (link) that can have 40% less accidents.  70% less injuries than GDOT plans:
It also shows Northside Hospital entrance and - Charter Blvd realigned to boost network flow between Wimbish to
Rivoli Drive and Forsyth Road.  Not to scale. See details (here)  Actual footprint would be much narrower.

- CAUTION Macon -

  Eisenhower Parkway Extension