In the weeks before Kitchener’s CTV television station became immersed in the Olympics, it wrapped up another key project: a 30-second commercial teaching drivers how to use roundabouts.
Jan. 26, the Region of Waterloo announced year two of its Roundabout Education Campaign, including a second version of its advertising video dubbed “The Roundabout Dance.” Last year’s video featured a solo singer/guitarist advising the non-driving public — pedestrians, cyclists, those in wheelchairs — about negotiating the traditionally European-style traffic circles. This year, the song’s writers — with assistance from the Region’s transportation department — aim to inform drivers that they should choose a lane upon entry into the circle, and stick with that lane right through until they exit.
“If down the road the traffic ends, let the traffic merge. Be a friend in the Roundabout Dance,” croon this year’s singers (this time, it’s a guitar-playing duo).
According to the Jan. 26 announcement, the Region’s first roundabout, on Erb Street on the western edge of Waterloo, welcomed its first drivers in 2004. Currently, there are 13 in use in and around Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge, with plans for two more in 2010.
Three months ago, the County of Oxford opened its first roundabout, inviting the media to the northern edge of Woodstock on the former Highway 59, at the Tollgate School intersection. In a demonstration that actually took place several hours before the roads reopened to traffic, a large tractor-trailer and a train of farm implements navigated the often high-volume locale.
“First the tractor-trailer approached from the south, successfully negotiating the curves, doing a 270-degree arc and exiting the intersection,” reported the Woodstock Sentinel-Review newspaper. “Then the massive farm vehicle approached from the north, did a 360-degree arc and exited.”
For years, Stratford’s Brittania/John Streets intersection stood out as one of very few roundabouts in southwestern Ontario. And, since it’s not in a particularly high-volume location (except during the Stratford Fair), it seemed more like another of the city’s quaint nods to its British roots than any kind of useful traffic control option.
But, as evidenced by the recent proliferation of roundabouts in Waterloo Region, they’re gaining credibility among planners.
“Traffic entering a roundabout travels at slower speeds and doesn’t come straight on, resulting in less serious collisions when they do occur,” explained the Sentinel-Review article. Plus, due to the almost continuous flow of traffic, with only rare instances when vehicles must stop, the features can deal with higher volumes more efficiently than four-way intersections.
Not everyone welcomes them. The Sentinel-Review noted the Highway 59 installation “faced a small number of continuous comments opposed to its presence since it was first announced over a year ago.” Among the most consistent concerns were from truckers fearing their vehicles would not be able to negotiate the arcs (although a wide, inner, slightly-raised curb seems to calm those concerns - as demonstrated in the County’s orchestrated media launch).
In Collingwood, where there are plans for roundabouts in future developments, a letter in the local newspaper argued they “will work well in the rural parts, but not in the inner town parts that would be close to, or in, a subdivision area.”
Citing the Waterloo Region’s decision to concentrate on pedestrian safety in its first Roundabout Dance video, the letter-writer wonders, “what if you were in a wheelchair, would you rather be crossing at a light or a roundabout? I know that I would not want to be in any of these people’s shoes.”
In the movies, the King of all Roundabouts is the “Look kids: Big Ben; Parliament” of Chevy Chase’s European Vacation fame. The true monarch, however, is the insane nine (or more) lanes of traffic encircling Paris’s Arc de Triomphe, leading in from and off to about a dozen of congested avenues.
None of the roundabouts in the Waterloo Region will ever rival these, nor will Oxford County’s Highway 59 solution. In fact, despite concerns raised prior to their construction, it seems like these have been generally well-accepted.
Highway 7 near St. Marys is, of course, a provincial highway. And the province has shown little interest in roundabouts. But it’s interesting to note that Oxford County was first pressured, due an elevated accident rate, to install traffic lights at the busy Tollgate School intersection. After studying the strategies of some nearby municipalities, transportation planners instead recommended the roundabout.
Now, the province is suggesting a series of stoplights (or, in the case of James Street/Cobble Hills Road, a complete lack of increased traffic control). All are in rural areas, so the concern about pedestrians would be non-existent if it somehow came to pass that, instead of stoplights, one or more roundabouts were suggested as an option.
The Queen Street East intersection could be particularly well-suited to the traffic circle. But an instructional video would be essential, since we don’t want locals or tourists to get caught in their own Perth County Vacation: “Look kids: Wildwood Park ... Look kids, Wildwood Park ... Look kids ...”