Forest Hill & Roanoke Traffic Circle Update
The quick answer on the status of the traffic circle is dead. The reason behind that death is not entirely straight forward. The city administration originally introduced an ordinance that had 3-4 traffic circles in it, including Roanoke and Forest Hill Avenue. Because it is Mrs. Graziano’s policy that controversial items need to be discussed with the community before they go forward, that process had begun with a work group from Friends of Forest Hill Park. The the administration withdrew the ordinance, and said they would reintroduce ordinances for each traffic circle separately. Meanwhile, the community dialog went forward. It became clear that there was little or no support for the proposal as evidenced by the Friends of Forest Hill Park Board voted of 5-3 (not 100% sure of numbers) to oppose and then Forest Hill Neighborhood Association voted about 40-1 to oppose. So the paper was never introduced by City Administration, and the proposal lies dead. At any time the paper could be introduced by the mayor, but that isn’t expected to happen. At this point, the Department of Public Works plans traffic signal upgrades at Forest Hill and Westover Hills Blvd, Forest Hill and Jahnke, and Westover Hills and New Kent.
Glad to hear the proposal is dead anyway.
GOOD! I was fretting over how much damage this was going to cause Forest Hill Park, not to mention the apartments and homes. Back to the drawing board!
Unfortunately, Phil, there isn’t another drawing board for this project. This was a federal grant initiated JUST for roundabouts. So, there will be no other proposals in the foreseeable future.
Forest Hill & Jahnke really needs an upgrade. I worry about the kids at the elementary school there, their playground is SO close to the street, and there are SO many accidents there… I worry that someday a child will get hurt by a speeding or reckless driver.
I would like to be able to cross forrest hill there too Cait.
I know of at least 2 bicyclists who’ve been injured at that intersection, too, Heather. People come down the train bridge eastbound SO FAST into that intersection…
That’s a shame. Traffic circles are proven to reduce accidents, despite what many think. Additionally, they are generally more attractive then stoplights. They don’t break in bad storms. The can have gardens planted in the middle. All in all, a loss for the community. Effort could’ve been made to maintain/preserve the park’s borders, but people are afraid of what they don’t know. In the northeast traffic circles are everywhere and a part of everyday life. Not to mention they’re better for the environment since there is less stop and go. Where are the astmatic children’s mothers?
asthmatic rather
Is there anything on the table that would help people cross Forest HIll at Roanoke?
@Jonathan – Nope. Traffic engineers had determined that the circle was the best approach at that spot and since the neighborhood associations were ready to fight it the city is not moving forward. There are no other proposals on the table it will remain as is for the foreseeable future.
I’m surprised to hear that there are enough accidents at Forest Hill and Roanoke to justify a traffic circle.
And judging by my experience at Lombardy at VUU, I don’t exactly understand how a traffic circle benefits folks on foot and bikes since you have a constant flow of traffic.
Any links to the local study that was used to justify it?
tvnews: FH Ave. & Roanoke actually had a surprisingly high number of accidents. If my memory is correct, it was not as high as FH & Jahnke, but pretty darn close. Regarding pedestrians crossing in a circle: there is a constant flow, but it’s really slow (less than 15 mph due to the road alignment), and it’s only one way. Thus it’s easier to cross one lane of traffic moving slowly (according to all the engineering studies.)