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Homeowner voices concerns about roundabouts at city council meeting
A traffic circle in Henderson, Texas, was changed to a five-way intersection known as a traffic star in the 1990s following routine accidents. Photo courtesy of Google Maps.
By Anthony Tosie, atosie@starlocalnews.com
While the Frisco City Council appeared optimistic regarding the potential installation of roundabouts on Ohio Drive at a regular council meeting last month, at least one resident isn't as bullish on the plan.
At the city's most recent council meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 18, a resident who lives near one of the intersections where a roundabout is proposed said more planning needs to be done.
"First of all, I appreciate you guys recognizing the fact that something does need to be done to those intersections as they're already dangerous enough as it is," Jeff Cosby told the council. "As a resident there, I'm not worried about us as the residents who live there as we're already on high alert already -- I'm worried about the residents who don't live there who are constantly running the stop signs right now."
That intersection was a traffic circle, which differs from a roundabout in that motorists entering the circle are met with a stop sign. Roundabouts feature yield signs, which allows motorists to immediately enter the intersection if there are no other cars.
A Henderson city official confirmed Cosby's account and cited an article by the Longview News-Journal that noted the circle was changed to a traffic star -- a five-way intersection -- in the 1990s because of the amount of accidents at the intersection.
At a city council workshop on Oct. 23, Brian Moen, the city's assistant director of engineering services, emphasized that traffic circles and roundabouts feature drastically different accident rates.
Roundabouts, Moen said, typically reduce traffic accidents at intersections, whereas traffic circles sometimes result in more accidents.
Cosby said the study the city commissioned for the Ohio Drive roundabouts was missing a critical factor, however: that there's several locations near the intersections where major developments could take place. Those developments, he said, could drastically increase traffic.
"I [think] more due diligence [needs to be] done for the safety of us," Cosby said. "While it may not impact the whole city, but me as a resident it's going to impact on a daily basis. I want to ensure that traffic remains smooth and it is a safe environment for us and our kids."
Following Cosby's input, Mayor Maher Maso said the city is planning resident input on the matter.
Maso noted that he appreciated Cosby's concern and said the decision, which hasn't been voted on yet, isn't a done deal.
"We hope that the engineering department will do some mini-town hall meeting or something out there to get additional input and share what the plans could potentially be so everybody has a good understanding [about the planned roundabouts]," Maso said.
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