The Aug. 17 courtesy review was part of Caltrans effort to get local feedback on the proposed roundabout at the intersection of Highways 246 and 154, Caltrans project manager Paul Martinez told the Journal. Caltrans is proposing a roundabout that will physically restrict the speed of motor vehicles through the intersection. It’s estimated to cost $3.5 million and is expected to be completed by March 2015. A final design and construction contract would be settled by March 2014.
Martinez said the board’s suggestions included making the design simpler, planting a few more oak trees and a certain type of California wildflower called Ceanothus, keeping the shrubs short, and planting more native grasses in the interior circle of the roundabout.
“We discussed the aesthetic features of the project, particularly landscaping,” Martinez said. “The recommendation was to ensure that the design of the roundabout fits with the scenic highway and that anything we put in is appropriate for the region and its history.”
Green signs will be installed to help guide people through the roundabout. There will also be warning signs and advisory speeds ranging from 40 mph to 25-30 mph before reaching the 15 mph speed limit for travel through the roundabout. A multi-use path will be constructed for pedestrians and cyclists because of the potential for foot traffic as the area becomes safer to use, according to Martinez.
Six or seven outer edge or central island luminaires will replace the solar lighting currently at the intersection. The CBAR review, however, did not focus on the traffic engineering or design of the roundabout – the crux of a lot of the controversy surrounding the project.
Roundabouts, a transit fixture associated with European roadways, are becoming a more common sight in the U.S. They’re sprinkled in some 200 roadways across California and about 1,500 nationwide. For some, they’re the godsend for commuters stuck in traffic. For others, they’re ugly concrete block bases that cause more confusion on the roads. Martinez said people have made inapt comparisons of their experiences traveling through different roundabouts, especially ones on the East Coast and in Europe.
Public opinion was mixed at a June 2011 community forum Caltrans hosted to inform and answer questions about the agency’s plan. Similarly, the agency answered questions about the project at a recent Solvang City Council and was met with skepticism from both the council and residents. Many critics want no roundabout at the intersection; others would support stop signs or traffic signals.
Caltrans ruled out stop signs almost from the outset and, most recently, traffic signals. “The cue of cars waiting to get through a controlled intersection is very long,” Martinez said. “Stop signs would provide a very lousy level of service. Also, people get impatient and they start taking risks, which is kind of what’s happening now with the collisions.”
Traffic signals are estimated to cost $5 million. Signals would require realigning the intersection and acquiring 1,600 extra feet of land from Nancy Crawford-Hall’s ranch on the southwest corner and 1,300 feet from the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians on the northeast corner. The traffic signal alternative would also involve a more exhaustive environmental study of the wetland on the tribe’s property, where a potential endangered species called the Ferry Shrimp is believed to exist.
Caltrans says there is a need for a traffic safety design because the intersection has an accident rate that is 2.4 times the statewide average for similar intersections.
The agency says roundabouts force drivers to slower speeds but in a more free-flowing manner as they circulate around a central island, allowing motorists to reach their destinations more quickly at a lower risk of accidents. The purpose of the project is to eliminate broadside and T-bone collisions and to reduce the severity of accidents. Some critics of the project say Caltrans has provided outdated accident figures. From the first year through 2009, 20 crashes at the intersection were recorded. Mike Hadley of Santa Ynez noted that accident rate has since fallen. The California Highway Patrol has documented 13 accidents from January 2005 to January 2011. “This figure is 1.28 times greater than the State average of .33 for similar intersections, not 2.4 times higher as reported by Caltrans,” Hadley said.
Hadley supports stop signs at the intersection. “Caltrans said they wouldn’t work at Edison Street and Highway 154, and over the past 18 months there have been no reported accidents at that intersection,” he said.
Martinez said Hadley could be correct that the accident rate is lower in the last five years, but he insisted that traffic volume is expected to increase in the future, paving the way for a higher frequency of accidents unless a traffic safety project is established. Caltrans expects that traffic volume to be 1.8 times higher by 2035. jfoster@syvjournal.com