Local government watching can be stressful, especially in DeKalb, and that’s something my doctors tell me I need less of. If I can’t avoid the stress I’m supposed to find something that relaxes me.
So now when I feel like I’m just going around in circles I drive out to the unknown street that’s the first turn north past the NIU Convocation Center. If whoever needs help naming the street I have a WINNING suggestion. Proxmire Circle. Or Pork Circle. Something Circle because it’s got three of them. Roundabouts. The latest trend by the traffic geniuses.
The DeKalb County Highway Dept. wanted to put one on Annie Glidden. Fortunately county board members came to their senses and approved a four way stop intersection instead.
Des Plaines has had one for years. It might be Illinois’ first. It’s called Cumberland Circle by new mailmen and traffic experts. The residents call it Suicide Circle. Illinois Department of Transportation officials say 70 or 80 accidents occur there every year–about one every four days.
But now DeKalb has three of them. All on the same street. All within a half mile of each other. One of them is on the end of what would be a dead end.
Enjoy…
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16 Comments
I don’t know for sure if that street is annexed to the city. Never thought about County liability.
Roundabouts (or traffic circles, as they were called where I grew up) are not uncommon in the East (I grew up in New Jersey). They are also common in Western Europe, where I lived for a while (France and Switzerland). Like any road that isn’t a straight uninterrupted line, they require some attention. I’ve also lived in Des Plaines; that particular traffic circle is pretty hairy for a variety of reasons (very heavy traffic, complex traffic patterns). I would defer to the traffic studies about relative safety; certainly they become safer as they become more familiar.
That aside, what is the purpose of this road?
Roundabouts work in England and India, where people drive on the wrong side of the road.
I’m reading as many negative comments about roundabouts in the UK as positive. Four way intersections don’t cause accidents. Distracted drivers do. I’ve yet to see any statistics that indicate roundabouts reduce the number of distracted drivers. There is some evidence that idiot drivers receive more opportunities to be idiots with the increase in roundabouts.
Mac….why not call it “CIRCLE JERK” in honor of those who planned and approved the road to nowhere…..Sad, but this is evident in more than a few places….
I wish I could “like” Mr. Bellah’s comment!
A couple months ago I traveled to Indiana to visit a gravely ill relative and ended up in a position to enter a big, busy roundabout. I had a hard time getting onto it because the oncoming traffic was not approaching in a straight line and I couldn’t tell who was in what lane. What I ended up doing was waiting for a lull, and then I basically cut across the center to the road I wanted to be on.
A bit later, I encountered a second roundabout. There was nobody else in it, so it was no big deal.
Environmentalists love roundabouts because, supposedly, you use less gas if you don’t stop and start; but I wonder how it changes the statistics when folks delay entry to say a prayer, or spend a half hour trying to get back off the darned thing.
One gets used to almost anything, eventually. My opposition to the county building a roundabout was because it would have cost at least five times what the alternative did. Our roads and bridges are generally so neglected for lack of funds that we can ill afford such extravagance.
What with NIU building them, I now wonder if pressure was put on the county for the sake of some sort of aesthetic continuity. If so, bravo for successfully resisting such pressure.
This would be hilarious if it were not for the fact that it was my (our) tax dollars that paid for this. Aside from the fact that any of these could have been four way intersections who’s goofy idea was this and why?? I just looked at the satellite image of that area and unless someone plans to fill in some retention ponds you can’t even build around most of it. Please tell me there was some master plan for this area since right now it looks like make work project. Can you clue us in Mac?
Cows don’t have the mental capacity to obey traffic signals so they want them to walk around in circles. That’s the plan, Max.
Seriously, there’s got to be a plan. How can a university with a renowned Public Administration Division not have a plan? How can public dollars be spent on major capital projects without a plan? How can the City of DeKalb plan — effectively — if they don’t know what NIU’s plan for the west side of the city is? Will this street and the streets the roundabouts allegedly will connect to be dedicated to the City of DeKalb? Will they need surface repairs before any development occurs that would require those streets being built? Why can’t the public, who pays for all these projects, know the plans?
Maybe it’s just me but government shouldn’t run this way.
So it smells of a “use it or loose it for next year’s budget”. I note that there are two sides to the safety issue of roundabouts however I’m betting the data that shows they are safer didn’t have a sample group where some 80% have only been driving for 4 years tops. And, that they were not within 600 yards from one and other.
Here are some sources that back up Nadine’s statement about the increased safety and decrease in the severity of accidents:
http://www.annarbor.com/news/data-shows-roundabouts-improve-safety/
http://www.azdot.gov/CCpartnerships/roundabouts/faq.asp
http://www.ite.org/traffic/documents/AHA99B02.pdf
http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jsd/article/view/14801
and:
http://trb.metapress.com/content/p54787k563u01005/
“The documented safety benefits associated with roundabouts address numerous concerns surrounding injury crashes at intersections…This research conducted a safety analysis of 17 intersections on high-speed rural roadways in the United States that were converted to roundabouts. The findings show the average injury crash frequency was reduced by 84%, average injury crash rate was reduced by 89%, angle crashes were reduced by 86%, and fatal crashes were reduced by 100%.”
In short, its easy to criticize something that you don’t understand, but doing some research and investigation is important with any important issue like safety.
Did you look at the cost for putting in new traffic lights vs. roundabouts? Did you actually look up accident statistics in Des Plaines rather than just speak to the locals about it? If someone has never seen a roundabout before, its possible they do not know the proper way to use it, and are used to the four way intersections.
But just stop and think: A roundabout forces ALL cars to yield to a slower pace, while stop lights always have one way driving rather fast, so logically the severity of accidents has to decrease because no one is driving 40+ mph?
Just some ideas, thanks for reading!
I apologize for misspeaking, you did look into stats by the IDOT, regarding the Des Plaines roundabout. However that is one example, and as you can see there is a large body of research supporting the increased safety of roundabouts.
But I can never get enough John Prine so thank you for posting his amazing ballad!
I’m no traffic expert but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express when I visiting the grand kids!
According to the Insurance Institute of Traffic Safety:
Traffic congestion and motor vehicle crashes are widespread problems, especially in urban areas. Roundabouts, used in place of stop signs and traffic signals, are a type of circular intersection that can significantly improve traffic flow and safety. Where roundabouts have been installed, motor vehicle crashes have declined by about 40 percent, and those involving injuries have been reduced by about 80 percent. Crash reductions are accompanied by significant improvements in traffic flow, thus reducing vehicle delays, fuel consumption, and air pollution.
But who knows what is what.
Biggest, most blatant waste of taxpayer money I have ever seen. That is… it would be blatant… if anyone ever went out there to that area so they could see it.
Dang this stuff is frustrating especially when Illinois is in so much financial trouble….
Gak… just what we needed… NOT… I keep saying that I need to drive down that new road to see what’s there… not no mo’… thanks for showing me! Last time I drove thru MN, I was in the middle of nowhere, and, yep, there were Round-abouts… no traffic for miles and miles… hit several of them…
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If IDOT rules aren’t followed in regards to stop signs, in civil court they can be shown as improper and this may open the county to litigation.