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Roundabout Way To Solutions

Stop signs and raised brick walkways that act as speed humps are the first structural elements city commissioners should consider to control the flow of traffic through downtown Safety Harbor. That message from local residents came through loud and clear when the city held an open house in August for a presentation of consultants' recommendations on "transportation issues that affect mobility within the downtown area." Increased emphasis on enforcement of existing traffic laws already is under way as we suggested in May when the consultant's recommendations were first revealed. Common sense and fiscal caution argue that the city take small steps before seriously considering more expensive and complicated plans such as installing traffic circles and landscaped medians on some of the city's busiest thoroughfares.

In fact, many residents reacted with outright anger at the suggestion of roundabouts, even though consulting engineers tried to explain that lessons were learned in Clearwater's debacle at the entry to Clearwater Beach. After redesign, that complicated intersection now generally is acknowledged to be functioning as intended. The proposed "traffic circles" — deliberately not called roundabouts — would be single lane, meaning they would not involve the lane changing collisions that were the bane of the first Clearwater Beach roundabout. The key question is whether there is enough available right-of-way to even remotely consider traffic circles. In each of the two locations under consideration, South Bayshore Boulevard/Seventh Street South and Main Street/Ninth Avenue, the city currently does own small parking lots. The Main Street location, however, also involves CSX Railroad right-of-way. It is notoriously difficult to negotiate with the railroad, which has little incentive to accommodate the whims of local government. Without the railroad's cooperation, however, it is pointless to contemplate a traffic circle that would be bisected by a railroad track.

The argument for a traffic circle on Bayshore at Seventh is weak. The city is trying to discourage cut-through traffic on neighborhood streets, not facilitate it. The primary accomplishment of this traffic circle would be to make Seventh more heavily traveled. Meanwhile, the first success the city has experienced in controlling that cut-through traffic was to place stop signs on Seventh, a deliberate inconvenience. Its second success was the recent installation of rubber speed humps on Seventh Avenue South. The combination, neighbors report, has resulted in a reduction in the cutthrough problem. How a traffic circle helps is completely unclear.

Once again, the common sense of local residents seems to suggest the best solutions. Start slowly; first with enforcement. Secondly, consider adding a few more stop signs on residential streets. Thirdly, consider a few raised brick walkways on Main Street to discourage speeding and encourage pedestrians. After evaluating those steps, then it may be time to again consider more radical engineering solutions, but not until there is better evidence that they actually will provide a benefit.