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Roundabout in Keene

Started by Kat Kanning, December 15, 2006, 11:53 AM NHFT

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Lloyd Danforth

Quote from: Russell Kanning on February 15, 2007, 01:04 AM NHFT
he is willing to make those tough decisions .... like taking other people's land and paying for it with other people's money. He is courageous.

Shortened, this would make a good sign

Russell Kanning

have the courage ... 2 take other's land
or
City has the courage
to take land

Stout is "the decider"

Lloyd Danforth






                                                                            Stout makes the
                                                                            Tough Decisions
                                                                            Take others land
                                                                           With others money

Lloyd Danforth







                                                                         Stout makes decisions tough!
                                                                      Take others land with others bucks!

Kat Kanning

Roundabout doubt a familiar theme
   

IAN BAGLEY
Sentinel Staff


A quick and dirty survey of folks in downtown Keene Saturday night suggests the City Council?s plans for a new roundabout on Main Street haven?t generated much enthusiasm from the public.

Thursday, the council voted to move forward with the plan to build a $4.2 million roundabout at the intersection of Main, Marlboro and Winchester Streets.

City officials who support the planned roundabout say it will produce a more efficient passageway for Keene travelers ? but most of a handful of businesspeople and pedestrians on Main Street were skeptical.

Traffic on Main Street is a problem right now, but ?I don?t really find a roundabout all that useful,? said Nichole L. Hastings, the manager of Moe Momentum Clothing on Main Street.


      


Several people were critical of the roundabouts at the north end of Main Street and near Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene on Court Street.

?I don?t think people can handle this roundabout, let alone a bigger one,? said Keene resident Jamie L. Judd, pointing to Central Square.

Munsonville resident Tracey Burroughs, who passes through the existing intersection when she drops off her kids at school in Keene, said she thinks the proposed roundabout is a waste of money.

?I think it?s working fine the way it is,? she said.

Tom Maguire, the manager of Game Express on West Street, said he thinks the roundabout could be good or bad.

?I don?t know if traffic is that much of an issue that it couldn?t be solved by something else,? said Maguire, who added that he can?t see a roundabout working if it includes traffic lights.

Swanzey resident Brian K. Stone said he thought the roundabout would work out. ?They had to do something,? he said.

Stone saw a similarity between opposition to this roundabout and another roundabout on Route 5 in Brattleboro. When that roundabout was first proposed, some people fought it, Stone said, but now it?s completely accepted.

City officials say they plan to start construction in April and end in October. They say Winchester Street would be closed to all but local traffic throughout the construction period, and the intersection would also be closed at times.

Stoddard resident John F. Keating, whose wife owns the Life is Sweet candy store on West Street, said he thought the construction period would be ?miserable.?

His wife, Tracy E. Keating, said she doesn?t know much about the proposal, but the Brattleboro roundabout ?seems to work.? When asked about downtown traffic, Keating said her only concern is that she has to pay close attention to pedestrians when they use crosswalks.

Keating said she is adjusting after moving to the area recently from New York City, where vehicles have the right of way.

Thursday, the council voted to pursue taking a 4,227-square-foot piece of property owned by former state senator Thomas R. Eaton, who has refused to sell the land.

Russell Kanning

I don't think they had to tear down buildings for the decent roundabout on route 5 in brattleboro. It also has basically no foot traffic.
Can you see downtown Keene with 2 traffic circles ... both with lights? What a joke.
Normal people in town have much more sense than politicos.

KBCraig

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Accidents+abound+at+new+Keene+roundabout&articleId=f28c2f15-ae76-4d99-b67e-e039af6e0991

Accidents abound at new Keene roundabout

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


KEENE – The new traffic roundabout in Keene replaced a dangerous intersection, and was supposed to improve safety. After five months and 46 traffic accidents, some drivers are not so sure.

Tuesday afternoon, a three-car crash involving a tractor-trailer on the Route 101 and Winchester Street roundabout sent two people to the hospital. It was the worst accident there since the roundabout opened in July.

And since September, injuries have resulted from nine of the 46 crashes at the busy roundabout, according to Keene police Lt. Richard Richards.

When stop lights regulated traffic at the intersection, there were 11 crashes, two involving injuries, from Sept. 1, 2006 to Jan. 30, 2007, according to Richards.

Some Keene residents, like Samm Russell, try to steer clear.

"When there was a light, I used to go through that intersection four times a week," Russell said Thursday. "I don't do that now. I avoid it."

Keene Public Works Director Kurt Blomquist said roundabouts tend to be safer than traditional intersections because the circular flow of traffic forces drivers to slow down.

"Roundabouts statistically have lower levels of severe accidents," he said. "That's not necessarily less accidents, just less severe accidents. You don't have T-bones. You don't have people rushing to beat the light."

But the percentages of accidents with injuries at the intersection before and after the roundabout were almost identical during the five-month periods a year apart.

There were also more than five times as many crashes.

Blomquist believes speed is to blame.

The speed limit drops from 40 mph to 20 mph as vehicles in two lanes approach the rotary from the east or west.

Driver Cary Sevene of Spofford said people simply are not yielding to traffic that has the right of way.

"I think that roundabout at Route 101 is the most dangerous roundabout in Keene," said Sevene, who drives through the intersection everyday on her way to work. "People just don't yield when they should. I've seen people almost get hit through there."

The relatively new two-lane roundabout is also perplexing to some drivers, Blomquist said. "You're going to have people who have difficulty adjusting to pattern changes. I'm still amazed. I keep hearing about people going the wrong way on the roundabout. It's just hard for me to imagine how even the most inattentive driver can make that mistake."

Drivers in other towns haven't seemed to have problems adjusting to their circular traffic patterns.

There hasn't been a single accident at a roundabout that opened in Meredith last May, said Police Chief Kevin Morrow.

"No accidents. Not one," he said. "I'm surprised (about Keene). Then again, the volume of traffic here is much less. We have a busy motorcycle week, but there were no issues other than people swearing at each other."

In Goffstown, there have been three crashes with one injury involving a bicyclist since the town's heavily traveled roundabout was finished a year ago, Police Chief Michael French said.

"This is the major road from the center of Goffstown to the city of Manchester and Route 293," French said. "It sees a lot of traffic."

Two roundabouts were built in Hanover in 2006 on Route 10, with no accidents.

"No accidents reported at all," Police Chief Nicholas Giaccone said. "It's almost like people coming to a four-way or three-way stop sign. They know that the people inside the circle have the right-of-way."

Puke

#37
Quote from: KBCraig on February 02, 2008, 07:48 PM NHFT
Tuesday afternoon, a three-car crash involving a tractor-trailer on the Route 101 and Winchester Street roundabout sent two people to the hospital. It was the worst accident there since the roundabout opened in July.

So that's what that was. I drove by that on my way home.

The problem is the retarded two lane design. People are idiots and can't figure out how to navigate the thing.

David

I like the roundabout.  It generally speeds up the traffic flow.
The problems are being caused primarily due to the idiots who are so hung up on them believing they have the right of way no matter what, that they don't drive defensively.  That is a bad combo when human error occurs.  The only solution the idiots who call into the local talk shows can concieve of is more enforcement, and or some new law.  Right of way makes it safer to drive and makes it easier to assign blame after an accident.  But I would rather not get into an accident no matter who is at fault.  But maybe that just my crazy radical anarchist ideas again.   ;)
Statistically these things are safer, and in theory, they should save the gov't money in the long run.  I don't get into accidents because I pay attention to other people. 

Puke

Quote from: David on February 04, 2008, 07:41 PM NHFT
I like the roundabout.  It generally speeds up the traffic flow.
The problems are being caused primarily due to the idiots who are so hung up on them believing they have the right of way no matter what, that they don't drive defensively.  That is a bad combo when human error occurs.  The only solution the idiots who call into the local talk shows can concieve of is more enforcement, and or some new law.  Right of way makes it safer to drive and makes it easier to assign blame after an accident.  But I would rather not get into an accident no matter who is at fault.  But maybe that just my crazy radical anarchist ideas again.   ;)
Statistically these things are safer, and in theory, they should save the gov't money in the long run.  I don't get into accidents because I pay attention to other people. 

Ditto.

Kat Kanning

Ditto on the retarded two lane thing.  ::)

Pat McCotter

#41
Magic Roundabout (Swindon)




I've flipped the attached image to see it through American eyes.

Kat Kanning

Give me a couple months to wrap my brain around that one.  :o

hwrnhetcxyc

I like the simple one-lane ones. IIRC, the one in front of the Keene hospital is one lane.