The city is inviting folks who may have to navigate it to an open house at the Lafayette Community Center and a chance to see a visual simulation of the city’s first roundabout at Pleasant Hill Road and Olympic Boulevard.
Engineering drawings and an animation video (hopefully more sophisticated than this one) of how the new traffic feature should operate will also be featured.
Lafayette city staff and the design consultant will be on hand to answer questions and receive feedback about the project design.
When and Where
- Thursday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. in the Lafayette Community
- 500 St. Mary’s Road, in the Cedar Room
I have a question for the city of Lafayette. Why is this being done? Is it really necessary?
Please be sure to include a bike path for the bicyclists on Olympic Blvd traveling between downtown Walnut Creek and the Lafayette-Moraga Trail.
The science I’ve read on this says there is no doubt roundabouts improve traffic flow and VEHICULAR safety. Single lane roundabouts are safer for cyclists and pedestrians. Multiple lane roundabouts, such as the one shown above, are less safe. However, there is evidence that multi-lane roundabouts are especially unsafe for cyclists. As a law abiding cyclist I worry about this intersection and proposal. We need a safe way to connect with Walnut Creek by bicycle. By the way, for the bicycle haters out there, I own and pay fees on two motor vehicles that I rarely drive. This proposal appears to be focused solely on improving motor vehicle traffic. If I was cycling north on Olympic I would feel less safe than with the current intersection. If I were heading south, a little less safe. If I were entering the roundabout as a cyclist or pedestrian where the path is intended to cross, I all but guarantee there will be problems as motorists speeding to get home, to school, to… on PHR and turning right onto Olympic. It’s already dangerous. In a roundabout people are going to be looking for cars coming in from their left, not looking for pedestrians on the right. A great improvement would be to add a protected bike lane from end of Lafayette Moraga trail to the protected path at Newell. My opinion.
More protection for bikes and pedestrians and I’m good with it.
I can see the transition from stoplights to a round about at this intersection at will probably help traffic flow at key points in key directions in the morning and afternoon while making less annoying when their is a lot less traffic at other times. In addition, their is added long term benefit on the cost to maintain a round about vs. signaled intersection.
.
Looking at what is proposed and comments about I wonder how much overkill, multi lane is really needed for this roundabout. I also wonder how things can improve overall on Olympic Ave for dedicated bike lane, separated trail, etc. Seems like a lot of effort went into Pleasant hill road but Olympic is a hodgepodge from Newell Ave to the Moraga trail.
Grateful that riders are at least being considered in the design of this project. That makes me feel a lot better!
The best modern roundabout design for cyclists provides two choices. The more confident cyclist should merge with through traffic and circulate like a motorist. This is made easier by the low-speed operational environment of the modern roundabout, which should not exceed 20 mph (30 kph).
The less confident cyclist should be provided a ramp to exit the street and use a shared use path around the roundabout. Such paths should be at least ten feet wide (3 m) and cyclist operate at low speeds, crossing at the pedestrian crossings. http://tinyurl.com/roundabouts-and-bikes Sometimes space constraints, as with other intersection types, limit ideal design.
Bikes in roundabouts videos:
Clearwater Beach, Florida:
La Jolla, California :
Washington: http://tinyurl.com/reidmiddletonRAB
Bend, Oregon: http://tinyurl.com/bikesRABBendOR
New York DOT: http://tinyurl.com/bikeRABNYdot
Vancouver, BC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD9ZLLDsk1Y
In other countries, separate cycle tracks are common and here’s a video of how they work at modern roundabouts http://tinyurl.com/cycletrackRAB .