Roundabout concept: Here is the latest concept drawing of the roundabout proposed for the top of Smythe Street. A safety analysis has given the $2.3-million project the green light, but it must still be approved by the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure and city council. SUBMITTED
GOVERNMENT-MUNICIPAL
ROUNDABOUT PASSES SAFETY REVIEW
BY STEPHEN LLEWELLYN
LLEWELLYN.STEPHEN@DAILYGLEANER.COM16 JUN 2013 11:44PM
A proposed $2.3-million roundabout that would connect Smythe Street to Bishop Drive through Route 8 has passed a safety review.
But the project will require special signage, lighting and upgrades to the intersections at Smythe and Prospect streets and Smythe and Priestman streets, said Fredericton traffic engineer Darren Charters.
“We’ve had extensive analysis done, including the traffic study, which determines the impact of the connection on the overall system,” he said.
“Those (intersection) improvements are required now even if this (roundabout) doesn’t go.
“We’re now into writing the final report. The third-party (pre-design) safety analysis has been completed as well.”
Charters said another third-party safety analysis will be done when the design is finalized.
The safety analysis didn’t find anything unexpected, he said.
“There are a lot of safety issues that we’ve discussed with the auditor,” said Charters.
“We discussed ways to mitigate the safety concerns they had in their report.
“It is doable. We have the green light from the safety folks.”
But the roundabout will require design changes, he said, which include warning signs and lighting, pavement markings and possible speed radar signs.
Rumble strips have been mostly ruled out because of the noise they would create for hotels in the area, said Charters.
“The major hurdle has always been the safety and with the recommendations from the safety experts ... Our comfort level is to the point we intend to move forward,” he said.
A third-party roundabout design expert has also looked at the project plan and is making operational recommendations, said Charters.
The city budgeted $500,000 for the project this fiscal year but work isn’t expected to start on the roundabout until 2014, he said.
The upgrade of the intersection of Priestman and Smythe streets will be done this year and involve a double left-hand turn lane from Priestman Street onto Smythe Street, the first such intersection upgrade in the city, said Charters.
“We have to do the detailed design on that,” he said.
“That will be later on in the year.”
The Prospect and Smythe streets intersection upgrade will be done in 2014, he said.
The next step for the project is to get approval from the provincial Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, said Charters.
He said the city hopes to send the proposal to the department in the next month.
“What we’d like to do is we want to finalize our reports, complete our designs including the safety enhancements we have made to the design and send a complete package to DTI (Department of Transportation and Infrastructure),” said Charters.
The roundabout, which is being financed entirely by the city, must also get final approval from city council, he said.
Mayor Brad Woodside said council supports the roundabout project.
“Council is committed to making changes that move traffic in a safe and efficient manner,” he said.
He said no one would support the project if it wasn’t determined to be safe, adding roundabouts are working well everywhere else.
There have been letters to the editor saying a roundabout in a highway is dangerous.
“I know that some people have not been in favour of it and actually some people have a real difficult time with change,” said Woodside.
“It’s a matter of educating when we’re doing something different.”
The mayor said waiting for an overpass, which costs three to four times as much as the roundabout, wasn’t in the cards.
“The money’s not there provincially or the municipality,” he said.
“We’re doing the next best thing.”
I'm all for it. I don't see how this is worse than having an intersection with stop lights through a 90km/h roadway - doesn't Moncton have a couple of those on Wheeler? Do people in Moncton complain about that?
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