Traffic Excitement

Road engineers like to talk about "traffic calming" but some of their ideas appear to encourage just the opposite.  Several of my friends in Lyon-Hoag make a regular cocktail hour sport out of watching cars launch off of the little roundabout islands the city has plunked down in intersections.  They vacillate between being entertained and worrying about the consequences when some driver goes a bit too far.  Personally, I don't see the benefit of these launch pads, but I'm no traffic engineer.

Comments

[HMB]

Have a friend who lives near one they put in a while back on Avalon in South City. It didn't last long. Rumor has it that a city council member lived near it and was unhappy with it.

[Handle Bard]

Stupidity thy name is Andrew. Somebody needs to reel that boy in.

[Laura]

It's unfortunate that they aren't working to slow traffic in our area. The painted islands and lines do even less! Bayswater and Howard need serious traffic calming devices and what they have done, don't work. The speed bumps on Dwight and Bloomfield have been tremendous in slowing traffic and I feel, a welcome addition!

[JP]

A couple of clipped 10 penny nails pounded up from underneath the ring would solve this problem. Just sayin'

[JP]

I was a passenger yesterday as a friend from out of town drove past this odd circle. He thought it was telling him he had to make a right turn at the intersection. He was wondering what the curved double yellows meant. Stupid street.

[Spurinna]

Ricky dink.

[Paloma Ave]

I think you meant Rinky dink?

[Cassandra]

Rinky dink.
Correct.
Imagine being named Ricky Dink.
(PS- Pinche spellcheck.)

[MBGA]

Trailer Park Boys..... I'm too old to admit to liking that show but Ricky Dink is something that Ricky would say.

[[email protected]]

"Julian, get back in the car." (As per Conky.) Best "skit" EVER!

[MBGA]

Holly, I know we don't agree on much, but on the important stuff apparently we do.

[Handle Bard]

These little diversions are worthless. I would like the city to spend money on the asphalt not the kiddie rides.

[BillyGBob]

According to the city’s website, the traffic circles (and all the other improvements) are temporary trials to see what works. Unfortunately, a traffic circle is difficult to do on a temporary basis whereas most of the other test improvements can be removed relatively easily. Ideally, a traffic circle has some curb, landscaping (such as small trees), and signs on the approaches that aren’t obscured by leaves. Also, the chevron signs they used in the trial are really intended for roundabouts, not traffic circles. I am a bit surprised that they didn’t test some of the more aggressive measures, such as dead-end roads and forced-turns.

Given the ease of public comment on these tests, I hope the evaluation includes a healthy consideration of empirical data (before and after speeds, changes in cut-through patterns, etc.).

[Handle Bard]

Dead ends and forced turns just move the problem around and frustrate people who then drive faster.

[resident]

The best traffic calming device is a motorcycle cop.

[BMW]

Another great use of $270,000 worth of Burlingame taxpayer money. $340,000 if you include all the engineering and construction administration.

https://burlingameca.legistar1.com/burlingameca/meetings/2021/6/1745_A_Traffic_Safety_and_Parking_Commission_21-06-10_Meeting_Agenda.pdf

The rubber speed bumps are effective. All the other plastic poles and the traffic paint spilled haven't proven worth our tax dollars. But hey, they're already planning on spending another half a mil for the next phase.