Think round
Roundabouts a safer alternative, retired professor says
After hearing about the death of a 17-year-old after a vehiclepedestrian collision on Topsail Road, a safety specialist is calling for the City of St. John’s to consider roundabouts as a safer alternative to traffic light-controlled intersections.
Lionel Rudd, a retired Laurentian University professor who lives in Sudbury, Ont., has a soft spot for Newfoundland after spending some time on the island. He said he watches this province’s news, and when he heard about the boy’s death earlier this month, he was moved to act.
“I did whatever I could to look at the Google map of that area,” he told The Telegram. “If you put in a roundabout, from what I can see, at that intersection, it has the effect of calming the traffic, slowing it down, and the design of the roundabout would allow people to go across to a centre island, sort of a crosswalk affair.”
He emailed St. John’s Coun. Art Puddister, and said he has not heard back.
“My suggestion was that you better start looking seriously at roundabouts at major intersections rather than the current traffic lights,” Rudd said.
He said along with being safer, roundabouts are simple to design, simple to use and cost-effective.
“They’re managable. They don’t cost hardly any money — $50,000 will build you a good roundabout — and there’s no maintenance, whereas traffic lights can cost you up to a million dollars,” he said.
The lack of reply has Rudd wondering if Puddister is all talk about traffic safety.
“Is he really interested, or does he just grandstand on television in the evening?”
Puddister said he got the email, he read it and he doesn’t disagree. But he said roundabouts are just not feasible on existing roads in the city.
“They are a good traffic-calming measure. However, in order to have a correct and proper roundabout, it needs to be essentially installed when the streets are being put in. I mean, to try and retrofit existing intersections is virtually impossible,” he said.
He said he inquired about installing a roundabout on Southside Road and Blackhead Road, but his suggestion was denied.
“I felt there would be enough land for a retrofit to put in a roundabout, and they said no, it wouldn’t be feasible. It wouldn’t work properly,” he said.
Puddister said the city has been implementing other traffic-calming measures, such as reducing speed limits near elementary schools and adding speed bumps in areas such as Carrick Drive.
Rudd said he is looking forward to visiting the province again soon, and he is interested in keeping the discussion on roundabouts going.
“I’m prepared to talk to anyone on the topic of roundabouts,” he said.
“I think it pays, if only to save one life, like this young kid that got killed. … It’ll get people thinking about the science of highway safety.”