Letter to the Editor: Don’t hide your head in the sand and hope you never see a roundabout

Let’s face the most significant controversy: The roundabout.

Like most of you, I have heard those opposed to the improvement. 

They make various comments in opposition to the roundabout. Why?

These negative statements often come from folks who have never or infrequently used roundabouts. They may well be intimidated by their use. 

Whose fault is this? I believe it is all of us. The only way to become comfortable with their use is to build and use them. They are very effective, efficient and safe.

One can hide their head in the sand and hope they never see one again or embrace what is happening. The former is not possible. 

According to a most recent estimate, the US has 10,000 roundabouts, and the number is increasing. Little Troy, Mo., has about eight. Sarasota, Fla., has 70, and 20 more are under construction or planned. 

I had one person call me who likes them. That person also said Carmel, Ind., where their kids live, has a lot of them. I thought, “What really is a lot?” I checked, and it turns out they have — get this — 140 roundabouts.

The fact is, they work great.

Do you know what all these examples I cited have in common? They had to build their first roundabout.

Like anything new, learning time is always required when a roundabout is installed in a community for the first time. The basic principle is simple: The vehicle within the roundabout has the right of way and yield upon entering. 

I recall a lot of folks not believing Quincy motorists could adapt to two left turn lanes at 36th and Broadway. They did, and they worked. Do not underestimate our citizens’ ability to adapt to positive change. I don’t.

Roundabouts are more efficient because there is usually no need to stop. They are also safer because right-angle collisions are all but eliminated.  They are safer for pedestrians as traffic only approaches in one direction. 

We have all heard that this proposed roundabout will not allow larger vehicles, such as trucks, farm implements, buses, fire trucks, etc. This is not correct. The roundabout will accommodate all of these types of vehicles safely and effectively.  

48th Street between State and John Wood Community College is dangerous for the students who walk and ride bikes and scooters. It is simply too narrow.

The most dangerous part is the section from State Street south to the top of the hill. Why? It is only 11 feet wide from the centerline and has a small, treacherous gravel shoulder. At the bottom of the hill, there is even a 20-foot drop to the culvert. 

The intersection improvement addresses this section of the road very effectively. The 11-foot lane width goes to 17 feet (a 6-foot increase in paved area on both sides). To make it even safer, it has a concrete curb on both sides to protect pedestrians.

That is not all. On the west side, the curb is followed by a 4-foot grassed area and, to top things off, a 5-foot sidewalk/bikeway.

Let’s build Quincy’s first roundabout with the needed approach improvements at 48th and State now!

Patrick Poepping
Quincy, Illinois