I'm inclined to agree with Chris Johnson and Michael Atherton on the virtues of traffic calming.
Michael makes a particularly good point about the lack of common sense displayed by many drivers, along with the failure to obey traffic laws, as good reasons for employing traffic-calming techniques. Though there are probably some NIMBYists when it comes to traffic, I doubt many neighborhoods would go to the extremes of demanding speed bumps or roundabouts unless they felt safety necessitated them. While I can't say I have a lot of experience with roundabouts, I have encountered the one on a residential street in SE Minneapolis just south of East Hennepin and west of 35W. I didn't think it was that big of a deal to figure out and given the statistics cited in today's Strib article about roundabouts (http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4313280.html), I can certainly see the appeal that they have with some traffic planners and engineers. While I doubt that we need roundabouts at every residential intersection, I can think of some areas where they would really make sense. Michael Atherton mentioned the need for drivers on residential streets to be alert to the presence of children. I would say that intersections near schools and parks would be particularly good locations for roundabouts. Hopefully the bad drivers will either be forced to slow down or perhaps even better, they'll choose to stay out of those areas altogether. Mark Snyder Windom Park REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
