Roundabout Alternatives Proposed by Resident

ANOTHER ROUND OF ROUNDABOUT: Tonight the fifth public meeting kicks off on the merits — or lack thereof — of installing a roundabout at Rio Grande and Candelaria. It’s from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, 2401 12th NW.

Last week this column focused on safety concerns of the Rio Grande Boulevard Neighborhood Association Board, and its belief a roundabout is the way to go.

Tonight, in the words of City Council Vice President Debbie O’Malley, is all about hearing “from all my constituents, whether they support or oppose the roundabout. It also does not mean that there is not the opportunity to comment on or have input into the design of the roundabout. I want to hear from as many people as possible who are directly impacted by this project, and that is why we are having this meeting.”

WOULD CHEAPER OPTIONS WORK? It is likely O’Malley will hear from folks who feel like Wayne J. Unze, who happens to be president of the Rio Grande Compound Homeowners Association.

In recent letters to the councilor and Sen. Dede Feldman, he says “there have been several other suggestions proposed that would not require $1.5 million in wasted taxpayer dollars, three of which are:

♦ Synchronizing traffic lights at Indian School, Matthew, Candelaria and Griegos to the 35 mph posted speed limit.

♦ Enforcing the existing speed limit with increased police presence.

♦ Utilizing left-turn arrows at the intersection.”

O’Malley has been very open that she is “committed to moving this important project forward” and “several other alternatives to reduce speeding and improve safety have been tried with limited success. Others simply are not feasible.”

So let’s take a look at Wayne’s.

Synchronization: Traffic Engineer John Kolessar says “we already do this. It is possible a specific intersection is out of sync, but the primary difficulty in keeping any corridor in synchronization is pedestrian buttons which extend the green time and any transit or emergency vehicle pre-emption. When they occur, it takes three to five cycles to get back into synchronization. When that occurs during rush hour, the average speeds can drop, and that also effects synchronization. Obviously a stall or accident also impacts the ability to go 35 the entire length (of Rio Grande). We checked this corridor last month due to the same complaint and found the corridor still in synchronization. We will re-check it.”

Speed enforcement: The Department of Municipal Development has statistics that show 85 percent of drivers go 45 mph on Rio Grande where the posted limit is 35 mph; and 85 percent go 40 mph on Candelaria where the posted speed is 30 mph.

Protected left turns: Adding this movement to the signals would affect traffic flow because other movements would have to wait for those queues to clear. Left-turn arrows slow down traffic.

HOW MANY WRECKS HAVE THERE BEEN? Another concern has been the number of accidents at the intersection. Jim called to point out his wall on the northeast corner of the intersection has been knocked down numerous times — as in double digits — in 40 years by drivers. But he also says there needs to be more law enforcement and asks how many accidents have there actually been?

According to the Mid-Region Council of Governments, “the crash history for this intersection demonstrates the need for the roundabout. Between 2004 and 2009 there were a total of 49 crashes including those involving vehicles, pedestrians and/or bicyclists. The top contributing factors for these crashes were excessive speeds, red light running and driver inattention. In addition, according to an analysis performed by the COG, this intersection has been identified as a location where there are crashes involving pedestrians/bicyclists that are higher than normal.”

A city breakdown shows “from 2004 to 2006: 29 crashes and four of these crashes involved pedestrians and bicyclists. From 2007 to 2009: 20 crashes and five involved injuries.”

A DIFFERENT ROUNDABOUT THAT WORKS: Finally, Steve Wentworth takes a look back at the controversy that surrounded the roundabout the New Mexico Department of Transportation installed at Roy Road and N.M. 313.

“We got poor information if we got any at all,” he emails. “Most (residents) didn’t think the roundabout would work and most assumed traffic would become a dangerous nightmare. … The area is used by all sorts of vehicles — bicyclists going to Bernalillo, people towing horse trailers to semi-trucks — you name it, the area is very busy. Accidents were all too common.”

“We were wrong about the roundabout; it works and works well.

“NMDOT did terrible job of letting people know how the roundabout worked. People drove in the wrong direction; they drove over the center island; and most came to a complete stop wondering what to do at this strange traffic configuration. The good news is that after a while people got use to driving the roundabout and traffic started to flow in a good manner. Accidents at the intersection have dropped. Most who use the roundabout will admit that it was a good solution to a dangerous problem.

“The community learned a few things with the experience. We will question the project managers, engineers and government officials about projects — we have learned that most projects improve when the public becomes involved. We are ready to demand good public processes about items that will involve or impact our community and probably most important, many in the community try not to jump to conclusions when we don’t have facts or experience with new or different things.”

Assistant editorial page editor D’Val Westphal tackles commuter issues for the Metro area on Mondays and West Siders and Rio Ranchoans on Thursdays. Reach her at 823-3858; road@abqjournal.com; P.O. Drawer J, Albuquerque, NM 87103; or go to ABQjournal.com/traffic to read previous columns and join in the conversation.
— This article appeared on page 1 of the West Side Journal