There was some opposition to the traffic circles on Griggs. There was
some support, too...
St. Paul Pioneer Press
St. Paul Pioneer Press
1 / 8 - Thursday, January 26, 2012
Edition: St. Paul
Section: Local
Page: B1
Source: By Frederick Melo <email obscured>
Correction: Jan. 27, 2012
Local News: The impact of traffic circles on vehicle crashes was
mischaracterized in a story on the Griggs Street Bicycle Boulevard on
page 1B Thursday. Emily Erickson, a St. Paul sustainable transportation
planner, said the circles reduce the section of roadway where two cars
might intersect - vehicle-to-vehicle "conflict points" - by 75 percent.
Griggs St. bike route approved by council//Carter amends plan, removes
one of six proposed traffic circles
The St. Paul City Council voted 6-0 to support a new "Bicycle
Boulevard" along Griggs Street, with one major change to the proposed
north-south bicycle route: Griggs Street will have five traffic circles
instead of six.
Construction of the $520,000 bikeway between Summit and Minnehaha
avenues will begin this summer, with new traffic circles at Portland,
Laurel, Sherburne, Edmund and Blair avenues, along with other
bike-friendly and pedestrian-friendly flourishes.
Council member Melvin Carter said he'd received numerous comments
about the plan and met with residents Tuesday night at the Dunning
Recreation Center, where he took in an earful about the traffic circles.
Despite some vocal neighborhood opposition, "the communication we've
gotten in our office has been about 50/50," he said.
During Wednesday's council meeting, Carter amended the bikeway
proposal to remove a proposed traffic circle from the corner of Griggs
and Dayton Avenue. He noted that two four-way stops in the area -
traffic lights at Marshall Avenue to the north and stop signs at Selby
Avenue to the south - already work to calm traffic along that stretch of
the street.
After the vote, a group of concerned residents met with Carter and
his legislative aide outside the council chambers. Mary and Shane Perry,
residents of Dayton Avenue, said they felt blindsided by the project.
They began attending public meetings about the bikeway this month and
said city staff told them "it was too late to propose any changes," said
Shane Perry, pointing to Carter's amendment as proof to the contrary.
"Obviously, it wasn't."
Mary Perry said safety is her biggest concern because of the many
school bus stops along Griggs. A driver entering the circle will be
looking to the left to make sure another vehicle is not rounding the
circle at the same time, she said, and "the kids are at the corner to
the right."
The project includes audible, automated alerts telling pedestrians
at the corner of Marshall and Griggs when it's safe to cross. Some
residents have expressed concern that the alerts will amount to noise
pollution and will have to be loud to be heard above the din of nearby
ball fields at the Dunning rec center.
Carter said city staff will conduct a traffic study to measure
traffic counts and crashes before the circles are installed. He asked
that a report be issued two years after the circles are constructed to
compare data and see how they're performing.
During the council meeting, council member Russ Stark - who lives
near a traffic circle - noted that circles are sometimes confused with
their larger cousins, multilane roundabouts, which can be confusing for
drivers to navigate. The city has nine traffic circles and drivers
adjust quickly, he said.
City planners maintain that multicar crashes decrease by 75 percent
at traffic circles.
Bicycle enthusiasts say bike-friendly routes running north and south
through the city are long overdue. During a public hearing last week,
Andy Singer of the St. Paul Bicycle Coalition said that in the four
miles between Raymond and Western avenues, there are only five
north-south streets that cross Interstate 94 and the "chasm" created by
the BNSF, Union Pacific and Central Pacific rail lines.
Efforts to turn Jefferson Avenue into a more bike-friendly route hit
a snag last year when residents there objected to a traffic diverter at
Cleveland Avenue. City staff began having public meetings on the Griggs
Street project in October.
Frederick Melo can be reached at 651-228-2172. Follow him at
twitter.com/FrederickMelo.
ID: 21416443
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