RECENT COMMENTS
Traffic circle coming to M street; other DPW projects planned
A traffic circle for the 5-street intersection of M Street, 25th Street, and Jefferson Avenue was unveiled at the 7th District Town Hall Meeting today.
5-street intersection of M Street, 25th Street, and Jefferson Avenue
Proposed changes with traffic circle.
I had to skip out before they got to talk about this at the meeting. Everything here is derived from the materials on display at the meeting.
The traffic circle project, called the 25th and M Street Intersection Improvements, is supposed to happen on the following schedule:
| 10/15/05 | Utility Pole Relocation |
| 11/15/05 | Final Design & Estimate |
| 11/20/05 | Bid Advertisement |
| 12/20/05 | Award Construction |
| 1/15/06 | Start Construction |
| 4/15/06 | Completed Construction |
They also stated that a project was planned for 31st and Grace Streets to start by October 15, 2005. This project is supposed to last for 270 days. No other details were provided in the hand out.
A Decorative Lights Project is planned for Williamsburg Road, to be implemented between December 15, 2005, and February 15th, 2006.
I do not think this “circle” is a good idea for this intersection. For one, the intersection is too small. And this would disrupt the traffic flow with which I have seen no trouble. I find this project a waste of money and a huge mistake waiting to happen. I travel through this intersection everyday and it’s as bright of an idea as placing circles at 25th, Q, and Venerable, and 25th, S, Fairmount, and Nine Mile. Those as well as this are horrid ideas.
Someone has their panties in a wad…
Roundabouts are replacing traffic signals nationally and internationally… Richmond is finally catching up… Go see the Lombardy Street Roundabout… the one proposed is shaped a little differently and that’s still ok… it will handle all the movements…
Roundabouts reduce delay and control traffic speeds and they are safer…
If you have ever been T-boned by a redlight runner… If you ever had to wait for a traffic signal when no one is there…you immediately see the benefits…
Large trucks and buses have the benefit of mounting an inner “truck apron” that rings the intersection for 10 feet on all sides… (I believe it is shown in aqua blue on the chpn.net) Pedestrians also have an easier time crossing the street and the crossing is intentionally place one car length behind the car yielding, so the second car is forced to yield to the crosswalk… in addition their is a median splitter island that allows the pedestrian to cross one traffic stream at a time… The speed through the intersection is 15 MPH and has calming effects both entering and exiting the streets… Roundabouts also serve as focal points and gateways and are green spaces that break up the normal sea of asphalt that plagues this particular intersection…
Go check out Lombardy and Admiral in front of VUU… It will operate the same way… this is in no way related to that damn diverter on Grace Street so I don’t accept your doom and gloom predictions… all the traffic will still be able to go in all directions…
another item about roundabout installation in the US…. people hate them until they are installed and use them… then their comments undoubtly embrace them… think about how many circles are place defining in national and international cities…
This is one area where Richmond is progressive… but I forgot Richmond has to wait and whine about stuff for ten years before implementation… Why don’t you google roundabouts before your panties get too tight… No hand wringing here, this is a flat out good idea and it should be done at Hermitage and Westwood too…
Bear, a roundaboout might just be a lovely thing to have at the intersection, but don’t you think taxpayer funds might be better spent on issues that significantly challenge the citiizens of the 7th district like law enforcement and education? There is only so much money to go around you know I’d much rather have the money it would take into constructing a roundabout go into more critical needs.
Finally!! Every time my wife and I drive through this very confusing intersection we are struck by the obvious need for a traffic circle. I can think of a few other intersections in our neighborhood that would also benefit from traffic circles.
I agree that the traffic circle is a mistake. Traffic circles are great for interesections that are having problems, but to my knowledge this intersection has not had any accidents, etc. We have sidewalks that need to be repaired, and we need funding for education and fighting crime.