Within two years one of Waukesha's major gateways, Summit Ave. / Hwy. 18, will get an exciting new facelift to greet visitors from the west.
It
was a unique opportunity for Waukesha to land the county's first
roundabout. A chance to welcome traffic with a flower garden, sculpture or, better yet, a fountain. But, of course, we'll still be burning time and fuel because the roundabout idea was shot down by a couple dozen people using the same tired old reason, "... too new and confusing." (Too hard to train your car to go counterclockwise in a clockwise world, I suppose.)
"DOT representatives really listened to the residents who are affected..." Thirty people who, chances are, never even drove through a roundabout deciding for the thousands who would use the intersection every day. Makes sense.
I work a block away from the Sixth St. roundabout in Milwaukee and have had a few close calls while on my bike. Some people seem to drive with blinders on. They're not expecting a bike so they're not looking for any. Kind of like roundabout opponents. They don't want change so they can't see change taking place.
Roundabouts take getting used to but it's rare to have to wait at one. I believe the slower speeds and configuration avoids the worst hazard of signaled intersections; red light running and speeding through yellows. Drivers going to work and school don't like waiting any more than they have to.
One final note. The first my company heard of Milwaukee's proposed roundabout was when we received notice that one was going to be constructed. The concept was new to everyone in the area, it was Milwaukee's first, but we got used to it. If thirty residents had shot the idea down what kind of intersection would we have? Today, at the south end of the Sixth St. Viaduct, you'll encounter a large circle filled with flowers and artwork welcoming traffic from Downtown to Historic Walker's Point Neighborhood. A huge improvement.
More on this topic is
available from jsonline.com or by referring back to my Sept. 17th posting.
