Longboat Key Letters to the Editor

The city continues to push for and plan roundabouts in high traffic areas. Of course, its data doesn’t show a problem. Maybe, because they use a 15% PSCF (Peak Season Conversion Factor) to estimate peak season traffic loads, as they did for the Vue concurrency studies? The reality is that a roundabout at Golden Gate Point and Gulfstream Avenue will fail in times of high volume. The traffic coming off the bridge will not let traffic enter from Golden Gate Point or the Ritz during high season. 

We lived in the UK for several years, and they rarely made the mistake of putting a roundabout in a high traffic area. The one place where we encountered one of their mistakes, the traffic backed up more than a mile during the day because they could not gain entry under roundabout rules (vehicle in the roundabout has priority). 

Under the current system, traffic on the bridge backs up to St. Armands Circle, more than a mile during peak periods. This will block a roundabout at this location.

This will be compounded by roundabouts on U.S. 41 and the several being planned for Fruitville Road, which are also high volume thoroughfares and are not valid candidates for roundabout technology. 

The city seems to be following the Duany plan robotically. These roundabouts will not solve problems; they will cause traffic problems because they are high volume areas. So after spending multimillion dollars to build them, it is logical that we will have to resort to traffic lights on the roundabout to reduce the mayhem.

Quite often, generalized statistics tell a story of reduced accidents. Logically, this is because, historically, roundabouts are in low volume areas and work well in those applications. Experience, and good common sense, should tell our planners that the use of roundabouts should be limited to low traffic areas. A distorted view of peak loads, as with a 15% PCF, have distorted the conclusions. We have experience nearby that should not be ignored. The Herald-Tribune reported on a roundabout built in Venice, “Since the $3.2 million roundabout opened in 2011, crash rates have quadrupled. It’s the county’s most accident-prone, with 50 crashes last year.”

It’s not too late for all of the roundabouts planned for high volume areas to be reconsidered and alternatives developed that will truly solve traffic problems. Since we can no longer widen streets where building has been allowed to encroach on sidewalks and roads, we need to consider solutions such as restricting access to side streets in the corridor from Gulfstream Avenue to Fruitville Road and sophisticated traffic management hardware and software.

Rod Scott

Lido Key resident