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Meetings planned for traffic calming options

By John Larson

Tacoma Weekly
jlarson@tacomaweekly.com
Published on: June 26, 2008

The city of Tacoma engineer tasked with traffic calming favors roundabouts as the best way to achieve this goal, but he wants to hear more input from Tacoma residents on all the options.

Kurtis Kingsolver from the traffic division in the city’s Public Works Department discussed traffic calming during the June 17 meeting of Tacoma City Council’s Environment and Public Works Committee.

Kingsolver discussed proposals for the intersection of North 30th and Alder streets. Three other areas he has been focusing on are North 21st Street, South 12th Street and South 74th Street.

A proposal to place a roundabout at North 30th and Alder created much public interest and was the topic of several neighborhood meetings. People living at the four corners of the intersection had objections. “The primary concern of residents is parking related,” Kingsolver said. Other neighborhood residents support a roundabout. “It created division,” he said. “It certainly was not intended to be that way, but it certainly occurred that way.”

One option is a traffic signal. Kingsolver said the intersection warrants one based on accident statistics and is eligible for grants for such a project. “There are already existing problems at North 30th and Alder,” he said. “It is something that is going to need to be resolved when funding becomes available.”

A roundabout, or traffic circle, would cost slightly less than a light.

 Kingsolver has met with residents of three of the four houses. Left-turn restrictions for the intersection is a choice they endorse, he told the committee. Drivers making left turns there often back up traffic, he noted.

Councilmember Lauren Walker said after a roundabout was placed in a busy intersection near Gray Middle School in South Tacoma, some motorists began avoiding by using side streets, to the chagrin of people living on those streets. “It created new diversions,” Walker noted.

“We know that roundabouts obviously stop accidents,” Kingsolver replied. “They also slow down traffic.”

He noted that whatever option is selected for North 30th and Alder, it will just be part of a larger system of traffic calming efforts in this area, where people often speed down the steep hill on North 30th toward Schuster Parkway.

“This is a bit of uncharted territory,” he said, noting the project will go beyond the scope of just one intersection.

“How far do we want to go with public input?” Kingsolver asked. Soon after he answered his own question. “I feel we need to have more input.”

He expressed concern about prior meetings that drew around 15 people, and questioned whether this was an accurate way to gauge general opinion of neighborhood residents.

Councilmember Connie Ladenburg said such meetings tend to draw critics, rather than supporters of a project. “It is the people who do not agree with it who want to have their voice heard,” she remarked.

The committee decided the best approach is to have one more meeting for each of the four areas slated for traffic calming. City staff will present their recommendations to the public.

Kingsolver said he can make any option work, but considers roundabouts the best choice because they handle the highest capacity and are safest.

The best option of all, though, would be for people to simply slow down when driving.

“If everyone was driving the speed limit we would not be having this conversation,” Kingsolver remarked.

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