Round we go
Debate intensifies over traffic
control
By JOE LoTEMPLIO Staff Writer
PLATTSBURGH — With the
debate over the city’s Rugar Street roundabout continuing to heat up,
Mayor Daniel Stewart must be thinking he picked the right time to go to
Florida for vacation.
People from both in and
outside the city and public officials have been opining on the roundabout
since it opened two weeks ago.
So far, public view
seems to be strongly against the plan, an informal survey by the
Press-Republican shows.
"We agreed to try this
for six months, and it’s only been a few weeks, so I think we need to keep
listening,’’ Councilor Glenn Olds (R-Ward 6) said.
TRAFFIC CONTROL
A roundabout is a
one-lane, circular road; vehicles enter after yielding to cars inside and
then drive to the right on their way to their desired
exit.
The city’s first
roundabout was installed at the intersection of Rugar Street, Prospect
Avenue and George Angell Drive in front of Plattsburgh High
School.
The goal was to slow
down and smooth out traffic, which becomes extremely heavy in the morning
when school begins and in the afternoon when classes let
out.
But some motorists have
complained about the roundabout, saying it is too small and too confusing
for drivers, especially for older people.
Ronnie Rinn, who owns a
sanitation business, showed up at two Common Council meetings to tell city
councilors he thinks the roundabout is an accident waiting to happen, and
that it could cause damage to trucks.
This week, he asked
city councilors to pass a resolution remove it.
"The council needs to
listen to what the people have to say,’’ he said.
PROVEN TO WORK
But Councilor Stuart
Voss (I-Ward 3), who supports the roundabout idea, said people need to
give it a chance.
"People think this idea
dropped down from outer space; well, it didn’t,’’ he
said.
"We researched this all
over the country, and studies show roundabouts reduce the number of
accidents by 80 to 90 percent nationwide.’’
Robert Heins, a Clinton
County legislator from the city, said he worries that ambulances and
snowplows will have difficulty using the roundabout.
Larger vehicles, such
as fire trucks and tractor-trailer trucks, have to drive over the center
curb of the roundabout to make it through.
"If you’re in an
ambulance and run over that thing you won’t need a defibrillator,’’ Heins
said.
City Public Works
Manager Kevin Murphy said Friday that plowing the roundabout won’t be a
problem.
"We have smaller plows
that will fit, and if we have to we can use a front-end
loader.
"Whatever we need to do
to clear it, we will do.’’
CHANGE IN DESIGN
If the council decides
to make the roundabout permanent after the six-month trial period, it will
be redesigned.
City Engineer Kevin
Farrington explained that the yellow curbing will be replaced with painted
lines.
The center circle will
have an inner area that’s five inches high surrounded by an outer rim of
brick-like material that will be elevated about two
inches.
Larger vehicles are
expected to drive over the outer, two-inch circle when going through,
which should not cause damage to vehicles, Farrington
said.
The same design is
being considered for a roundabout at the intersection of Route 9 and New
York Avenue near the entrance to the former Plattsburgh Air Force
Base.
If the conversation
about the Rugar Street roundabout is any indication, the Route 9
roundabout will be equally interesting.
"You’re going to spend
all that money on a roundabout at the base when there isn’t even that many
cars that go through there, and there is no problem,’’ resident Dickie
Rinn said.
"That’s taxation
without representation and come election day, we might make our own
roundabout.’’
To contact
the Press-Republican, Phone: (518) 561-2300 or send mail
to:
Press-Republican, 170 Margaret St., P.O. Box 459, Plattsburgh, NY
12901
Copyright 2004, Plattsburgh Publishing Co., Plattsburgh, NY, Division
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