No Roundabouts in Alton!

[mcdude]

From the Baysider 5/21

DOT unveils Alton Traffic Circle plans
BY BRENDAN BERUBE Staff Writer

ALTON

— Having taken the wishes of local residents and officials to heart, representatives from the state Department of Transportation (DOT) presented their revised plans for the Alton Traffic Circle to a capacity crowd at the Gilman Library last week. During an informational meeting at Prospect Mountain High School last year, the DOT brought forward two options for using earmarked funds to improve the flow of traffic at the Circle. Their preferred option, a European-style roundabout like those in Meredith and Nashua, was universally rejected by residents, (emphasis added) who favored the second option (which the board of selectmen later directed the DOT to pursue): a proposal aimed at turning the Circle into a conventional rotary through proper signage and re-configured approaches from either side of Route 11. Trent Zanes,a preliminary design supervisor for the DOT, explained that the proposed changes were aimed at improving safety, rather than capacity. The primary goal of the current plan, he said, is to correct the inconsistent and counter-intuitive signing that forces traffic already inside the circle to yield to incoming vehicles. The biggest change, Zanes explained, would be a re-configured approach from Route 11 on the Rochester/New Durham side of the circle, where the “straight shot”that currently allows vehicles to enter the circle at an accelerated rate of speed would be eliminated and the road shifted into an ‘S’ shape, the curves designed to force incoming vehicles to slow down. New signs would also be placed at that entrance forcing incoming vehicles to yield to traffic inside the circle, Zanes said. Vehicles entering the circle from the Village area, on the opposite side, would also be forced to yield, he explained, adding that a crosswalk and raised island would be installed at that entrance, providing a “safe refuge” for pedestrians, who he said would have to look in only one direction at a time while crossing. The DOT, Zanes said, also plans to connect the sidewalk at the new Merrymeeting River Bridge to the sidewalk that currently ends at Riverside Cemetery, and will provide a new crosswalk at the entrance to Hannaford. Explaining that the DOT had been asked to find a “better way” to get vehicles into Dunkin’ Donuts and the Circle Grocery without causing back-ups, Zanes said the shoulders on either side of Route 11 in that area would be widened to 10 feet, providing enough room for drivers to pass vehicles turning left into either business on the eastbound side of Route 11. Drivers turning into either business from the west-bound lane, he added, would be able to move over to the right, allowing vehicles behind them to continue on their way. The proposed improvements would cost an estimated $800,000 to $1 million, which would be taken from the $2.4 million earmark, he said, adding that the state would try to maintain two-way traffic throughout the construction process, although occasional oneway traffic might become necessary. Commending the DOT for listening to the townspeople, resident Reuben Wentworth asked whether the white lines on the new 10-foot shoulders would be placed at the edge of the breakdown lanes themselves, or at the edge of the pavement. .......blah.....blah..... ...blah.....blah................... Thanking the DOT representatives for their time and consideration of the Townspeople’s concerns, Wentworth remarked, to a burst of applause from the audience, that “this is the first time in a long time I’ve seen the government actually listen to
its citizens.”

[Island Girl]

What is with the notion of the European roundabouts... I am not impressed with the one in Meredith. Thanks for posting this McD.

[Rattlesnake Gal]

This traffic circle's only problem is the incorrect signage and it sounds like they will be addressing that. Did you add in the blah, blah, blah? I love it!
Thanks for the post McD.