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ROUNDABOUT
MONTPELIER
VERMONT
(Apples and Oranges in Kinderhook
NY) The addition of a rotary will further degrade this gateway (US9 and NY 9H) into the community. Despite the fact that DOT says that it may technically be "safe," it is not in keeping with the Town of Kinderhook. Interestingly, I noticed in the FEIS (Final Environmental Impact
Statement) that the roundabout proposed for the (Route) 9/9H intersection is
compared to a roundabout in Montpelier, Vermont. This comparison is partly
used to justify the existence and safety of a roundabout near a
school.
I know exactly what roundabout they are referring to because my
family lives about a mile from there on North Street. The setting is
NOTHING like the 9/9H intersection. The roads coming into the roundabout
are coming off single lane city streets where the speed limit is 20
mph. The school is not a high school campus like Ichabod Crane
(2000+ students), but rather, a small, old-fashioned school serving a small
number of students(400). The traffic is much lighter at this intersection
than at the 9/9H intersection.
This is truly an "apples and
oranges" comparison, and if the designers of the (Kinderhook) roundabout are
planning to design it like the Montpelier roundabout, I would first encourage
them to get the statistics on this roundabout, because the numbers will indicate
the differences in the two locations.
Excerpted from a speech
by
KNGG Board Member,
attorney Sara Richards, March 4, 2004
Presented at the Public Hearing for
Widewaters Commons, Kinderhook NY
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