Round and round we go

Whoa whoa whoa. Who the heck thought this was a good idea. Putting traffic circles on Upper James?!?! This is supposed to reduce traffic accidents… increase accidents is much more like it as well as make traffic on this street move slower than it already does. Read the article from Mountain News here.

First, you are taking a very busy street and getting rid of intersections to put in traffic circles. Traffic circles are like weird 4-way stops. Instead of waiting for your light to turn green to go, you need need to wait and look for upcoming traffic. Instead of simply going straight, having to go round in a circle is much easier. I may make traffic circles sound very hard, I don’t believe they are, but they have their place and Upper James is not it. Some people will find them difficult and Upper James is too busy to use these, especially Upper James and Mohawk (and moving towards Rymal).

Like it wasn’t too long ago when I saw a news report about the traffic circles in Ancaster near the WalMart plaza in which drivers had a very difficult time getting used to them, and often going off course. I don’t think they are a bad idea but not on Upper James. Perhaps on Locke street where you have that flashing red light signalling a 4 way stop but not Upper James. I will be sure to avoid this street when these are put into place.

And who cares if it’s “very European”. Okay lets all turn into Europe. Perhaps we can go in financial crisis like Portugal and Ireland or how about if Harper sleeps with an underage prostitute? (Sorry to generalize Europe and point out its less finer points). But also if you’ve been to Europe, they aren’t the greatest drivers. They have tiny cars. Germany has the roads with no speed limits. Portugal has the highest rate of car accidents. Let’s not try to follow their lead.

I just don’t see how this will realistically reduce accidents, except for less people using Upper James because of these circles. I love the idea it saves money on electricity, but lets put them on low traffic streets which have stop lights. I could list several in the city.

I’m glad this construction isn’t starting till next April. Is this going to be safe for predisatrians who want to cross the street? How about in the winter? Will these be more difficult for plows to clean? Will cars slip and slid more on these as opposed to straight streets?

Also, if you’re going to introduce these, don’t start on Upper James, get them on other streets with good traffic flow. Allow people to know how to use them. You wouldn’t put someone in the rink with the champ… you start small and work your way up.

Here’s a vide if you want to check out how they work. It’s a long video, you don’t necessarily have to watch the whole thing. I think you’ll catch the idea in the first minute. But if you do watch the whole thing and something interesting (like an accident) happens, leave me a comment. I’d like to know.

I know people will disagree with me on this topic. Let me re-state. I do not believe they are difficult, but some people will. I don’t think they are a bad idea when they are put in good locations. I think they should be introduced slowly, especially to a country that is not used to them.

I may be wrong about them, who knows? Maybe they’ll be a hit.