So construction for the infamous Marquette, Michigan roundabout is about to get underway in less than a month, and the Michigan Department of Transportation is ramping up it's public service announcements regarding how to traverse within a roundabout. This will be the first modern roundabout to be constructed in the Upper Peninsula and I know it will taking people some getting used to. And no matter what MDOT does in regards to informing the public about it, people will still get lost. I'm going to be rather concerned about going through it myself in the beginning because I'll be worried about the other drivers more than myself! The concept of a roundabout seems quite simple, actually. But I know people are going to get confused about which lanes they should be in and people will try to switch lanes while in the roundabout. I'm thinking about avoiding that intersection for awhile until I know (or at least hope) people are comfortable with driving through it. Public reaction on the roundabout still remains mixed to this day. The roundabout is being installed at the Front Street/US-41 Bypass intersection in south Marquette. The existing intersection is rather convoluted, with a slew of through lanes and yield signs. Those of us that live in the area are familiar with the existing intersection. But for travelers, it's awfully confusing. In fact, for them, it's probably a heck of a lot worse than driving in a roundabout! I don't particularly feel that intersection is signed all that well to begin with. For the overall safety aspect of the intersection, I think the roundabout is the best fit. I don't feel that converting the intersection with traffic signals would work because it would increase delays even further than they already are during peak traffic times.
In general, I think people are just afraid of change, one of the reasons why there is a good deal of negative criticism about the project. The current intersection has existed since the 1960's and people are comfortable with it. Now that MDOT is changing it, they are afraid of something new. I guarantee once people get used to it, people will learn to love it. I remember a similar thing happened where I work several years back in regards to our work schedule. We were voting on a new schedule and a lot of the veteran people absolutely did not want to change because it including 12-hour shifts in favor of one additional weekend off. The schedule eventually was changed, even though the vote was close. And in time, a majority of those people against the change adjusted and now they would never go back to the old schedule. It's just that people don't want to change something they are comfortable with. I can understand that. But for safety, I think the change to a roundabout at this particular intersection will be a good fit.
People are also concerned about trucks traveling through the new roundabout. The roundabout is made big enough for trucks to pass through so really, there's no major concern there. Another concern is in regards to winter driving and plowing the newly reconfigured intersection. There are videos on the web from snowy places like upstate New York where roundabouts are located. One video captures a plow plowing the roundabout. Doesn't look all that difficult to plow in the winter time. There may be an issue in regards to where the lanes are at when the roadway is snow covered, but I don't think that should be all that difficult to figure out. Yes, it'll take getting used to. But the nice thing about a roundabout is that traffic moves at a slow pace. It's not a speedway and people should be taking their time to pass through the roundabout. It's time to embrace the Marquette roundabout because it's going to happen. Construction starts May 3 and should be completed by sometime in August. I am sure the majority of people will learn to love it.
VIEW MDOT'S INFORMATIONAL VIDEO OF THE ROUNDABOUT HERE.
3 comments:
I am sure the good folks of the UP will learn the ways of roundabouts. With good design quality and careful advance lane markings and assignments, RBTs work great and saves lives, reduce injuries and reduce public costs.
Yuk, yuk, yuk. Traffic circles are not modern - they are antiquated remnants of pre-WWII automotive architecture. Take a good look at the illustration accompanying this story and you will see how clever the MDOT engineers who illustrate this concept really are. Look especially at the place where the bypass crosses over Champion Street.
Way to go!
Let me just say this, do I wish MDOT would've considered another alternative to the roundabout? Sure. Why not consider an interstate-type interchange of some sort. Obviously there are land restrictions there and you can only build so much with so little land. But at least MDOT could have considered keeping all through traffic going onto the bypass and looked at building an off-ramp for traffic entering downtown. I am sure they could've found a way to make it work! Heck, drive to Wisconsin and you'll see them doing it all the time.
However, I do think a roundabout here will work fine. People will just have to get used to it. When they do, I expect many of the negative comments to pretty much come to a halt. I'm sure there'll be one or two people to spout their negativity about it, however.
Post a Comment