Although some people find them confusing and intimidating, Gilroy is planning to add 13 more roundabouts in the next two years to the two it already has.
Why? Because officials say the traffic circles are safer and cheaper than signal lights and they move traffic faster.
Two of the most heavily traveled ones will be on 10th Street near Gilroy High School, which are expected to be finished by 2018. Others are planned for Third Street at Santa Teresa Blvd.; Cobblestone Court and Autumn Street; Miller Avenue at Santa Teresa Blvd.; Tenth Street at Charles Lux Drive; and Luchessa Road at Cimino Drive. The other active roundabout is at Cobblestone Court and Third Street.
“For a community like Gilroy, roundabouts are a great solution,” said city transportation engineer Henry Servin. “They are better throughputs. They have better safety and less congestion. And they are opportunities to beautify the town, by taking out a few hundred feet of asphalt in the center and putting in landscaping.”
But some people are worried about safety. LuAnne Murphy who was walking her dog near the Luchessa and Thomas roundabout, said she fears getting rear-ended as she slows to enter the circle. She said she knows how to drive in it, but worries about those who don’t.
She and a neighbor had these concerns:
“First, northbound Thomas Road, ignoring the right of way. Second, heading west on Luchessa entering the roundabout, people are veering from the outside lane to the inside, cutting off and nearly side-swiping drivers. And the truck that damaged the southeast side of the roundabout was a construction truck that was witnessed by a neighbor. Other than that discouraging news, the roundabout has helped the flow of traffic.”
Servin said drivers will adapt to the roundabouts over time and they are the future around the state. There are about 100 in California; the first one was built in Santa Barbara in 1992. One of the problems, he said, is that “‘Yield’ has fallen out of the vocabulary.” People aren’t used to yield signs because they have been cut down in traffic flow. Freeways have access lanes that let people enter without much yielding, he said.
“I understand the confusion, but [roundabouts] have been in the California Driver’s Handbook since 2008,” said Servin. “Europe has used them for centuries. If you just follow the rules and keep the speed limit to 15 or 20 miles an hour, they are much safer.”
At a traffic signal there are 32 of what he calls conflict points, places and ways cars can strike each other. There are head-on collisions, T-bone collisions, cars and bikes, cars and pedestrians. At a roundabout, there are only eight possible impacts. And he says, there have been none at the two in Gilroy.
“Roundabouts don’t solve everything,” said Servin. “But you only deal with one direction of traffic. You don’t have head-on collisions and T-bones like you do at traffic lights. You are still going to get door-to-door bangers, but those are less severe than plowing into someone across traffic. A traffic signal is only as good as the willingness of people to obey them.”
Traffic signals are also more costly, including $400,000-$600,000 to install them and $1,000 a month to maintain them, including electricity.
“It’s like leaving your chandelier on 24 hours a day,” he said.
A traffic circle costs $167,000 and Gilroy is having developers pay for them as part of their accommodations for increasing housing and traffic. Gilroy’s first was opened in 2014 at Luchessa Avenue and Thomas Road.
A Federal Highway Administration study found that roundabouts decreased collisions by 37 percent, injuries by 75 percent, fatalities by 90 percent and pedestrians being struck by 40 percent.
“We haven’t had any incidents,” said Servin. “One of the benefits of a roundabout is you aren’t sitting five minutes at a red light. In this part of the county, that’s a real boon. I have traffic signals on Santa Teresa that have five-minute cycles and people call me and say can you make them faster and frankly, no, we have to let the cross traffic through. That’s what we are trying to fight, to give people more convenience and safety.”
Former City Administrator Jay Baksa lives near the Luchessa roundabout and said he and neighbors were worried about whether it would work.
“But as residents, we are pleased. The result has been good.”
