Traffic Circle Work Started at New Kent
Construction of circle at New Kent and Prince Arthur
As you can see construction has begun on the traffic circle on New Kent and Prince Arthur. This is the second circle to come to our area recently. The other is at Reedy and 46th St in Forest Hills (south), picture after the break. Both projects are the result of neighborhood requests, not always unanimous, for traffic calming.
It is worth noting that one neighbor has already seen quite a few folks going the wrong way on the circle. When approaching the circle go around to the right, don’t cut the corner to the left. Hopefully that problem will be less of an issue once everyone is use to the circle and work is completed.
Completed Traffic Circle at Reedy and 46th
Thanks, too, for the photos. Regarding the circle @ 47th/Reedy — If approaching the intersection on W. 47th (coming from Forest Hill Ave), the “sign” is behind the tree. Once the foliage fills out the “warning” sign will not be visible, which also, means visibility to on-coming traffic will be limited. Many vehicles travel incorrectly around the circle. Per my request to Street Beat (Rhmd TD), the direction sign was installed (see Street Beat column 3/6/11 http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/street-beat/2011/mar/06/street-beat-march-6-ar-885872/)that’s the sign “blank yellow diamond”. I don’t think the sign has helped provide direction to drivers who do not know how to approach a circle. I’m not impressed. Please travel cautiously.
There’s also a recently added traffic circle at Perry and W. 28th. I wouldn’t get anyone’s hopes up too high for these mini circles as they aren’t big enough to work properly. Ours even still includes a stop sign at one corner. Worse yet, the landscaping and asphalt were poorly done. We’ve already had to have two repairs done on the paving, with another already needed. The landscaping includes invasive shrubs (name escapes me).
better than quaaludes…….i was so calm i almost fell asleep at the wheel and ran over those two small white chillin on tricycles.
At least we didn’t get the ones I saw in Church Hill yesterday. All pavers, with cheap-looking edging around the outside.
As I’ve said (repeatedly), I’m just waiting for some drunken person to take out oncoming traffic.
In Seattle between 1991 and 1994 a total of 119 traffic circles were constructed. There were 187 accidents in the year before construction, compared to 11 accidents in the year after. This is a 94% reduction in accidents in a single year. The reduction in injuries was even more dramatic, dropping from 153 injuries in the year before the construction to a single injury in the year. Taken from this report. http://goo.gl/5tnlV
Were they full size traffic circles (of which I am a huge fan) or were they these little children’s wading pool sized planters that don’t actually force you to drive in a circle at all? Were there many accidents at New Kent and Prince Arthur? I honestly doubt it. This smells like Mr. Flynn. One area where there are lots of accidents and near accidents is in front of Patrick Henry and something needs to be done before next school year.
Don’t we get a civil war statue too?
I say we get a statue of a real Richmond hero not some lame ass civil war statue to a bunch of losers. How about a fund drive for a statue of Chuck Richardson…the best damn councilman this city ever had!
Watch it, Larry!
@Emma – if you set aside all the drug issues, Chuck Richardson was a good councilman. He looked out for his constituents.
Haha @ Larry…I wouldn’t go so far as a statue, but since we’ve been in the area for nearly 20 years, Richardson WAS the best Councilman we’ve had in that time period.
HA! Darn, I heard a nieghbor say they expected the statue to be of Kathy Graziano.
It seems like a 4-way stop would have been more effective and a whole lot cheaper than the circle at 47th and Reedy. And the yellow signs are pretty nonsensical — they look like they’re waiting to have something written on them. I suggest “keep right.”
Your tax dollars at work, folks.
Oh yeah — and while my daughter and I were out for a scooter ride down the sidewalk this evening, we still saw lots of people speeding down 47th between Dunston and Reedy, causing my 4 year old to yell (like her mom) “slow down!”
Dee, 4-way stop signs are not effective. http://troymi.gov/trafficengineering/multiway.htm I can attest to this personally as I live on a nearby corner and watch quite a few people run the signs. Hit the link in post #5 for statistics on how circles improved safety in Seattle.
All this talk about statuary has me wondering: why not have the circle be a place to display works by local artists on a revolving schedule?
Richard,
One can find research supporting and opposing all traffic devices. I doubt that you lived in this area prior to the traffic-calming installation of multiple stop signs. Traffic studies were performed pre- and post- installation. Both cut-through traffic and speeds were greatly reduced, especially volumes. Even if an occasional driver doesn’t come to a complete stop, they’re slowing down much more than they would for these “circles” (which are actually “rotaries”). Even the first article you cited said that rotaries don’t reduce traffic volumes, cut-through traffic, only slow speeds. If the city tries to remove any stop signs on our street, they will have a fight on their hands. Before the sign installation, it seemed like half of Chesterfield County used our street as a cut-through, and our family was preparing to move out of the neighborhood. The traffic situation is not perfect, but tremendously better than it was, and we again enjoy living here.
It was never my intention to imply that the circle would reduce volumes or cut through traffic. Circles serve only as a traffic calming (slowing method) and have a secondary benefit of greatly reducing accidents. If I left any other impression my apologies. Do you know if the traffic calming figures you mention take into account only the stop signs or include the NO LEFT/NO RIGHT signs in place on Forest Hill & Westover? Those seem like they would be more of a deterrent than stop signs. Just curious not taking away from your point.
Update: landscaping in, yellow caution signs up. Heard from some eyewitnesses that the first circle cut was too big, and it had to be made a little smaller on March 18/March 21. Folks look like they are getting the hang of driving around the circle and not cutting the corners.