Tear out the roundabouts, but not just yet Tear out the roundabouts, but not just yet (October 28, 2005)

by Jeb Bing

There are times when a multitude of back-to-back, late-hour meetings are confusing, and I'll admit to being caught up in the array of votes and issues at last week's City Council meeting. During a 4-1/2 hour-long meeting, the council took up, once again, plans for changing, adding and dismantling parts of Vineyard Avenue between Bernal and Isabel. These included the traffic roundabouts, new stop signs, more traffic signals, rubberized pavement, landscaped median strips, reduced speed limits, speed sensors and access to the proposed Neal Elementary School. It was the council's decision to tear out the two traffic circles that I got wrong, flip-flopping the 3-2 vote by adding Councilwoman Cindy McGovern to the votes cast by Mayor Jennifer Hosterman and Councilman Matt Sullivan to keep the roundabouts in place until the school district decides whether to build Neal. I guess I was confused and surprised by her anti-roundabout vote because she was on the school board when the district approved a financing agreement to join the city in building the new $6 million realigned roadway, which included the roundabouts. In fact, the construction was rushed so that it would be open in time for contractors to start building Neal.

Although many of us have long been annoyed by the roundabouts, which suddenly slow us down from the posted 40 mph to about 15 mph, dismantling them now makes no sense. They were designed and built to slow traffic down and to provide access to Thiel Street and the Neal school loop road, a plan that is still in place. Traffic Engineer Jeff Knowles determined then, and said again last week, that the circles would prove far better in moving traffic into and out of the proposed 600-student Neal than the only alternative, a computerized traffic signal which would cost more and, by his estimates, back up school-bound vehicles from Ruby Hill to at least the fire station, if not beyond. That view was reiterated at the council meeting by Public Works Director Rob Wilson. Both emphasized that the roundabouts have worked to keep speeds under control.

Many at the council meeting voiced their doubts that Neal will ever be built, so pushed to get rid of the roundabouts which they find a nuisance. But those views are not in line with the school district, where Neal is back in serious consideration. Elementary school enrollment is climbing again, and is now at 6,030 students, topping the 6,000-student threshold that Supt. John Casey and the school board have set as one of the conditions for building a 10th elementary school. If that trend is shown to be continuing in a new demographics report due out in January, Neal could very well be back on the district's priority list again.

At the same time, the district continues to vigorously pursue its litigation, at considerable cost, with Signature Properties and Standard Pacific Homes over who pays the cost differences to build Neal, which have now escalated well beyond $14 million. At one time, the developers offered to advance $8.5 million in an interest-free loan to help get Neal started. Casey and the district's attorney contend the developers also agreed to pay anything over that estimate, a claim the developers dispute. Both sides are in court, with a judge expected to order court-supervised mediation early next year, and then make a ruling in the case if the warring parties can't resolve the issue.

In any case, the long-awaited decision by the school district over whether to build Neal may be closer than ever, which would then be the time to improve or rip out the roundabouts. Fortunately, city staff, which recommended keeping the roundabouts in place until the Neal decision is finalized, has put off dismantling the circles until late next spring or summer, a delay that may work to the advantage of taxpayers who have to foot the cost.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.