Discussion | 9 comments

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• dale pierceAugust 10, 2011 - 11:42 am

  There certainly is little support for the roundabout, but this entire project needs close scrutiny by the public. The studies done originally show very brief wait times at this intersection- in fact the traffic holdups are at the Courthouse and at Pacific Street. A traffic light will do nothing to improve those areas, and replacing the existing bridge on Clay Street with one 55 feet wide seems completely unnecessary

• fedupAugust 10, 2011 - 1:48 pm

  Don't do the roundabout, a stupid and irresponsible waste of taxpayer dollars to correct a problem that doesn't exist. Don't waste more money on a traffic light to correct that same non-existent problem. Don't replace or "improve" the Clay Street bridge on the taxpayers' dime, even though it leads to develop-able property owned by....guess who. Don't spend taxpayers' money to "redevelop" the mayor's and other councilpeople's property. If they own property which they decide needs to be "redeveloped" they should "redevelop" their own property at their own expense, or sell it. I don't expect anybody to come over to my property and spend their own money against their will to paint, mow, re-roof, etc. Mayor Machado and his buddies have ridden roughshod over Placerville long enough. He should resign from the city council and consider himself lucky he's not in jail. Yet.

• Cary VandeverAugust 10, 2011 - 3:52 pm

  We don't need a roundabout. Seriously, how long has anyone had to wait at that intersection for their turn to go? Mere seconds, really. I've been a resident here for nearly 20 years now, and in all my time here I have NEVER had to wait more than 15 or maybe 20 seconds to get through, and that's only on rare, very heavy traffic days. More typically the wait is less than 10 seconds. A roundabout will only make matters worse by confusing some drivers and giving others ample opportunity to cut people off or swerve into other vehicles (let's hear it for talking or texting on the phone while going around a curve), creating a very dangerous situation. Why take a perfectly acceptable intersection that doesn't cause problems and create a death trap instead? Do you want people to die? I've seen and driven may roundabouts, and they've all been death traps. I had the misfortune to live just up the road from one in Long Beach, and most of the deaths in that neighborhood came from the roundabout. Hardly three days ever passed without an accident of some sort. Some people got so confused they just drove straight across it. No, really. Even with other vehicles in the way. People in general are not smart enough and/or responsible enough to be able to safely handle a roundabout. Drivers in general get worse and worse at driving all the time, and people lose their lives because of it. Why create the perfect opportunity for increasingly bad drivers to kill more innocents? A stoplight instead of a roundabout is also a bad idea. Again, how long do most people have to wait now to get through the intersection? Not long at all. Put in a stop light and traffic will back up in two directions while only one direction gets to go, potentially for minutes at a time instead of mere seconds. With Main Street already a popular road that contains slow-moving, stop-and-go traffic, waiting for a stoplight will only make that drive so much worse. People will be waiting longer to turn into or out of side streets and parking lots, and the wait will likely make some drivers impatient, so that they refuse to let someone out of a parking lot or side street, instead blocking the way so they don't have to wait for one. more. vehicle. People pulling out of parallel parking will have the same problem: waiting patiently for someone to let them out, and likely waiting considerably longer than they have to now. If they're not patient (a more common attitude nowadays), they'll risk injury to themselves and others by jetting out into traffic when there isn't really enough space, causing people to slam on their brakes ... if they're paying attention, and if they're not already speeding up themselves to prevent the person from pulling out of the parking space. Please don't mess with the intersection AT ALL. It's just fine the way it is, and the money that would go to the project can be better and more responsibly spent elsewhere. Changing it will only cause trouble, and a lot of it. People will be injured and killed. People who don't want to die or be hurt will begin to avoid Main Street. Merchants will feel the pinch of fewer people stopping by their stores. More shops will shut down, and Main Street will begin to look like the huge, mostly empty parking lot with mostly empty stores over by Grocery Outlet at the end of Broadway. Seriously, City Council. What were you thinking? Maim and kill the residents? Destroy the businesses? Are you bunch of modern vikings taking a new angle at the whole "rape, kill, pillage and burn" thing? I thought you were on our (the residents' and merchants') side. That is what you're there for, right?

• DarrinAugust 10, 2011 - 5:55 pm

  I do not think we need a roundabout built, the intersection seems to work fine just the way it is. I think that is about the end of where I agree with Cary Vandever, however. While some roundabouts may have issues with traffic is entering too fast, the speed in town is 25 mph. It could work, if necessary. People have been using roundabouts in Europe (home of the Vikings) for years without killing each other, though I am sure there are some deaths. Would a roundabout bring about the end of civilized Placerville, where all citizens are out for themselves and drive to kill? I doubt it. Will all the stores shut down and board up their windows? Not likely.

• Cary VandeverAugust 11, 2011 - 7:25 am

  I agree that roundabouts in Europe work well. I actually lived in Germany for six years as a kid. There's also the Autobahn in Europe, and that works well there too. Imagine bringing that to America, where people don't fear tickets or jail, or even their own deaths, and continually talk, text, eat, put on makeup, etc. while already driving too fast, but never seem to learn the lesson when they or someone else gets hurt because of it. Just because something works well in one country (a country that happens to be a heck of a lot more strict about its traffic laws and the penalties for breaking them) doesn't mean it's going to work well elsewhere, especially in a country that idolizes speed, danger, lack of respect for authority and a love of adrenaline and cheap thrills. Yes, the speed limit on Main Street is 25. What makes you think everyone actually goes that limit? While most people do, all it takes is one idiot with no one in front of them to go rushing into the proposed roundabout too fast and throw off the traffic flow in it. And how many times have people been hit by the 25 mph traffic right on Broadway between the Mountain Democrat and Splasherville, right in the pedestrian crosswalk? At least one death occurred from that; why couldn't it happen again? Some of that Broadway traffic actually goes 25. Some of it doesn't. Some of those drivers slow or stop when there's a pedestrian in the crosswalk, or someone pulling out of a parking lot. Some don't. A speed limit and/or a simple yielding concept isn't going to stop stupid and/or self-centered drivers from being stupid. That roundabout I mentioned in Long Beach? That was a 25 mph zone as well, and STILL people got hurt and killed, because not everyone went that slow, and not everyone had patience. Now, maybe if there was a CHP officer sitting right in plain sight of the roundabout traffic, people would pay attention, go the posted speed limit or slower, and yield properly. But I think that might cost more money that could again be better spent elsewhere, like having that officer pulling over drunk drivers, speeders, and talk/texters on the freeway. Can we afford a CHP roundabout babysitter?

• James E.August 10, 2011 - 6:24 pm

  A roundabout in a Gold Rush town just isn't Gold Rush.

• HangtownAugust 10, 2011 - 6:45 pm

  Dirty Daves credibility (if he ever had any) is shot. He needs to resign and the council needs to dump Redevelopment. The majority of the public does not want it anymore than they do the Roundabout. How many millions of our tax dollars are being wasted on the "bridge to nowhere" at Safeway. What a boondoggle. Caltrans (DOT) should be run out of El Dorado County for building this fiasco. There was nothing wrong with the bridge or the brand new ramp they built two years ago. When is the D.A. going to start investigating the Placerville City Council?

• White Flower GirlAugust 10, 2011 - 6:54 pm

  Down with Dirty Dave. RECALL!!!! Hangtown is right the DA needs to step in and put Dirty Dave where he belongs. IN JAIL. No one else in town can get away with this kind of activity.

• WARREN DAVIDAugust 11, 2011 - 5:13 pm

  I realize the roundabout is no longer going to happen. Lets face it people some of the excuses are just plain ignorant. If you are unable to navigate a circle, what in the heck are you doing with a drivers license?