Fayette | News

Roundabout up for discussion

Tue, 01/31/2006 - 4:45pm
By: John Munford

Roundabout up for discussion
Is a roundabout design appropriate for a fairly busy intersection near McIntosh High School?

That’s a question the Peachtree City Council will answer Thursday night after hearing a presentation on the project by it’s traffic engineering firm, Qk4. The design is proposed for the intersection of Peachtree Parkway and Walt Banks Road, which is now a four-way stop.

Council could decide to scrap the idea in favor of a more traditional improvement to the intersection ... such as a traffic light. Either way, there’s funding available, partly from the county transportation Special Local Option Sales Tax and partly from a contribution from the developer of the Lexington Commons commercial development.

After school, the intersection becomes a hodgepodge of regular cars, large sport utility vehicles, school buses and golf carts. Because the roundabout is designed to keep traffic moving, the cart path crossing on Peachtree Parkway would be moved further south for safety reasons, said City Engineer David Borkowski.

The presentation from Qk4 will include the funding for the project, the necessary right of way and the current and future “levels of service” for the intersection, which are evaluated on a grade scale from A (the best) to F (the worst).

If approved by council, this would be the first-ever roundabout on a public street in the city. Also, approval would trigger a public information program to teach motorists about how to safely navigate the intersection.

Roundabouts allow traffic to flow counter-clockwise, helping keep traffic flowing in many cases instead of having multiple vehicles come to a complete stop and then slowly lurch forward until they can move through the intersection. Vehicles approaching roundabouts are required to yield to traffic inside the roundabout itself.

The proposal includes the construction of a landscaped center island and the use of appropriate signage and road markers to help keep vehicles on the right track.

The Georgia Department of Transportation states that roundabouts are “typically up to 30 percent more efficient than traffic signals, partly because there is no wasted red and yellow light time.”

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Surprised at how behind we are
livininPTC's picture
Submitted by livininPTC on Wed, 02/01/2006 - 10:13pm.

I have to say I am surprised at how behind we are in regards to traffic management on our streets!

On my travels abroad I have noticed the following:

- Red lights that actually "manage" traffic flow, ie you will see signs on the road leading to a busy intersection stating "If you drive 40 miles, you will get a green light" This keeps traffic flowing and reduces idle time at a red light.
- Roundabouts are used much more in other countries, especially Europe. You hardly ever have to wait at one, unless there is a ton of traffic. This might even be a solution for some of the other 4 way stops we have here in PTC.

PS: Why is this article filed under Fayette and not Peachtree City?


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Roundabouts
PTC Guy's picture
Submitted by PTC Guy on Thu, 02/02/2006 - 2:25pm.

We lived several years abroad and in the US in areas that used roundabouts.

A very simple fact on keeping traffic flowing using them is that as traffic gets heavier in an area they must be larger in size. Else they are dangerous because you are forced to take a hole you otherwise would not have considered.

And with that intersection when school lets out a lot of cars make left turns. On a roundabout meaning they have to go 3/4 of the way around, thus filling up the roundabout.

So, with they heavy influx from the school openings added to by straight throughs heading north, traffic heading south is going to get backed up waiting for spaces to get on.

Thus, frustration will set in.

The normal solution for intersections like that are to make them two lanes. Ah, but now you get to the left for 3/4 and then have to get back right. Hmmm.

It will only work in that location if very big.

Oh, yea. They have to round or oval to work. no crazy shapes.

Honestly, with the demographics of PTC we have a lot of drivers that are either impatient at stop signs or very hesitant and unsure.

Hesitant and unsure equals accidents in roundabouts. I can see them stopping now, which is a no no in roundabouts.

If moving away from a stop, which works just fine the majority of the day, a traffic signal would be much more functional, I believe.


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re:Roundabout
Submitted by dkinser on Thu, 02/02/2006 - 4:21pm.

I agree with you whole heartedly. I lived for 8 years in England and they know how to do a roundabout. On a two lane road that roundabout will not be large enough to allow traffic to flow.

Add to that the impatience of a teenager, and you have the recipe for numerous accidents.

Put in a traffic light, set the timer to work red/green during the hours that school starts and school ends. During other hours it could flash yellow for north/south traffic or it could simply be set with a trip switch for traffic coming off of the side street.

Dana Kinser

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Not enough room unless......eminent domain?
Submitted by SandySue on Thu, 02/02/2006 - 10:05pm.

Well I agree too, roundabouts are good, they have them in Hilton Head right here in the USofA too. It works well there at both ends of Pope Avenue. However, the space is much much larger.
I hope for the sake of the homeowners on those corners that eminent domain is not in the works. That is what it would take to have the space for a roundabout at that corner of Peachtree Pkwy and Walt Banks Rd. "(CBS) Just about everyone knows that under a process called eminent domain, the government can (and does) seize private property for public use - to build a road, a school or a courthouse." Could this happen in PTC?

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meeting
PTC Guy's picture
Submitted by PTC Guy on Fri, 02/03/2006 - 2:06pm.

The only ones who were pro or leaning roundabout were on the council.

Logsdon was opposed. None really had much use for the way it was laid out, especially concerning golf carts.

I have never seen any roundabout like that design. The outer curb is always convex to the center. These were concave. That means your turn signal might not kill and you are on top of the next lane before they would kill anyway. And that means no one would know if you were really turning.

The largest diameter was only 60'. Absurd.

And getting golf carts across. Yeesh! To me that would require running car and cart lanes in parallel around the circle.

Now would that just be safe!

Either a traffic director during the 3.5 peak hours or a traffic light with button for cart crossings.


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