CCMIN071701 - Laserfiche WebLink

Ms. Ayala asked about all the little dots moving at the sarae speed. A normal per~n in a car would not be driving like that. There are aggressive drivers and other types of drivers and when those cars are t~ing to leave the traffic at the school in the morning, particularly when there is a lot of traffic going on Vineyard Avenue, you are going to have drivers that are more timid than others trying to get out. They are going to back up the cars behind them. Is this not correct? Mr. Knowles said some are slower and some hesitate more than others in the model. If you were to compare this to a traffic signal, it is far worse. There will be moments in front of the school that are a mess in that peak 15 minutes when eve~tbody is dropping offtheir students. If it were to be a signal instead, it would even be worse. The other advantage is that when you are talking about timidity or the caution of some drivers, as long as there is a circulation where the majority of cars are coming towards the school and going around the circle and a majority of cars leaving are turning right, they never cross each other's paths and it provides for good circulation. A problem only occurs when people drive around the school and try to double back on themselves. Ms. Dennis said the communities that she knows who have installed traffic roundabouts to solve queuing problems provide a better opportunity to keep the traffic moving. She thinks it is actually safer in t~ms of fire apparatus and other large vehicles. There are not people stopped and no way to get around them until the light changes. She can see how it can work after people get used to it. They will like it and it will prevent the backups caused by a light. She asked if it was less expensive than a traffic signal Mr. Knowles said that is correct. The developer was willing to build roundabouts at both comers. Mayor Pico invited public testimony. Jeff Renholts, 7489 Aster, said he was opposed to roundabouts. He spent some time in Australia where there is nothing but roundabouts. When asked why there were so many of them, the answer was because they were less expensive and makes traffic flow smoother. Traffic signals were later installed because the traffic ended up not getting through. There is a lot of traffic going in and they ended up having to put signals in because of a queuing problem that was far worse than anticipated. He pointed out there is an elementary school at this location and a park in the middle, and sooner or later someone will shoot down the middle and fail to negotiate that traffic circle. This is a concern that he has about this situation. He felt it should be elevated so it would not be as attractive as a park. Better traffic flow does happen. He would like Councilmembers to know about some of the side effects that will happen with the roundabouts. Ms. Denni% seconded by Ms. Mlchelotti, moved it to authorize staff to continue with the design and construction of traffic roundabouts on Valley Avenue as part of the Bernal Avenue development, and on Vineyard Avenue as part of the Vineyard Corridor development. Pl~anton City Council 34 Minutes 07/17/01