Below are the comments from the public about the Southport Drive Roundabout.

Comment: I live in Hidden Cove, which is right by the roundabout.  I read the article in the paper today.  And I just wanted to let you know I love the roundabout.  I don't know who was responsible for putting it in.  But obviously, it's been fun coming out onto Southport from the west side going east, trying to turn north.  I like it because we all have equal right-of-way and it slows traffic down.  And I think it's great.  So anyway, that's my two cents.
Reply: One of the reasons why a roundabout was selected for this intersection is the number of new homes being constructed in Hidden Cove.  There were only 34 homes in Hidden Cove in 1999.  Within 2-3 years, there will be 101 homes entering Southport Drive from that side. As traffic grows in this intersection, the value of this project will become more clear.

Comment: I use that roundabout twice a day.  And my comment is as an engineering solution for the problem, stronger light poles, stronger street signs, whatever, more cement in the flower boxes.  I think if you see airbags go off over there, people finally get the word.  So that's what I got to say on it.
Reply: Other modern roundabout conversions in the U.S. have experienced a temporary rise in the accident rate followed by a dramatic reduction.  In time, we may see similar statistics associated with this project.

Comment: I live off Klatt here, not quite Southport.  But I drive the little roundabout every day.  And I knew from the start 20 miles was too fast because there's a lot of idiots out there driving.  And they need to slow down. My biggest complaint is I do work evenings and -- well, morning and evenings.  The city's not been putting in enough sand or ice or whatever they need to put down on that area there.  So even ten miles an hour, sometimes you have to go slower.  But it could be a little bit larger.  But I think, hopefully, they'll get used to it.  But like I said, there's idiots.  They are the same ones that drive off into the wetlands too. But yeah, if they could ice it better -- or de-ice it, I should say, better in the winter, it might be better.  But you might also consider while you're doing it more stop signs.  Because once they get through the roundabout, they're winging down here off Klatt Road up to Victor and really going quite fast.  Maybe even they ought to put some more police out here like they had a few years ago where they catch some speeders for a while.
Reply: This modern roundabout is the first one of its kind in the Anchorage area.  Maintenance personnel, as well as drivers, are learning about this new form of traffic control.

Comment: I don't know how you decided it or why, but most roundabouts are about four times as large.  You've created a hazard.  And I expect eventually a pedestrian will be in the middle of the roundabout and a car will come through and probably hit him.  If you're saying that you think that people will get used to it is fine.  But people out of the area that come through there, all of a sudden hit that intersection and the next thing they're up and over.  And you're going to have continuing accidents.  I would suggest you rip it out and put the normal street in or make it four times as large with an actual roundabout, not just a go-around blockade.
Reply: The design intent was to follow the English model for modern roundabouts.  Traffic circles from other places have design standards that are different from the intent of the Southport Drive project. Learn about the differences between old-style traffic circles and modern roundabouts.

Comment: This is about the roundabout at Southport.  My mom was wrecked there.  And she's from France and so she's really used to them.  And to us, it's no big deal.  But I did notice -- and it seems that my family thinks the same thing -- is that the circle seems a little tight, like it's -- I mean, because we do slide when we go through it.  We try to -- I mean, as far as speed, we make sure that we're not going too fast and stuff, but it's a little tight for a circle.  And maybe that's part of the problem is that the speed is -- even going slow is still it's a little tight for that circle.  But anyway, that was my only comment.  And we think it's fine.  It's no big deal.  But we do see a lot people having problems with it
Reply: Some modifications are planned for the roundabout in the summer of 2002 that should clear up those problems. The central island will be a little larger, and the exits will be a little more open.

Comment: I lived in Boston where they have a lot of roundabouts.  They are death traps.  I say -- they are death traps.  The roads are dangerous enough around here. Somebody needs to drive out and get a clue.
Reply: The design intent was to follow the English model for modern roundabouts.  Traffic circles from other places have design standards that are different from the intent of the Southport Drive project. Learn about the differences between old-style traffic circles and modern roundabouts. There are not a lot of modern roundabouts in Boston.  However, there are a lot of Old-Style Traffic Circles.  Many eastern cities and states are beginning to convert old-style traffic circles to modern roundabouts.  Learn about some case studies.

Comment: I think it's a great idea.  I lived in Europe for three years.  And they work great.  It beats sitting at stoplights all day.  I think we ought to have more of them.

Comment: I just wanted to support the roundabout you have over in Southport.  I think it's a wonderful feature.  When we were in New Zealand, we used those.  And I thought that the traffic ran very efficiently and much nicer than stop signs.  And I think Alaskans just have to get used to using them.  I think the more they see them, the more they'll like them.  So I support as many as you want to put in.

Comment: I'm a police officer.  I go through there quite a bit during the day.  The problem I have with it is that thing in the middle, the planter or whatever it is, makes it so you can't see across it to see if other traffic is in the circle.  So I think that, to me anyway, is a big problem with it. You know, to yield to the traffic, you can't -- especially if you're driving in -- when I'm in my patrol car, I can't see real well if somebody's coming from the other direction until right there around the corner.  And then it may be too late.  I usually go pretty slow, but that's what I would suggest, if you can lower that thing in the middle so that you can see or not have anything in the middle at all or, like I said, something low so that you can see the traffic coming instead of the former.
Reply: Design guides for modern roundabouts suggest blocking the vision in the middle of the central island. Entering a modern roundabout is almost exactly like turning right at a red light.  A driver needs to look off to the left, recognize a gap in traffic, and then proceed.  The vision is blocked across the intersection because that traffic can not come all the way around the central island in the length of time required for you to clear the intersection.  The design guides suggest blocking the vision to help prevent indecision at the YIELD line.

Comment: I'm a resident in the Southport area.  And I'm finally getting around to responding about the roundabout at Southport.  I am one of those that is not in favor of the roundabout.  I think the radius is too small.  The lane is too narrow.  And I believe that that planter and the trees in the center make it difficult to see the intentions of the people that are coming through the intersection.  It's poorly used.  People don't understand it yet.  And that's about the basics.  But anyway, I'd love to see it gone.

Comment: I'm calling about the little roundabout that they built on Southport.  If you're going north on Southport and then you encounter this roundabout, you're heading right for a light pole.  And so I think the light pole ought to be moved out of the way.  People who come sliding around the circle are going to plow right off the road into the berm and plow right into the light pole.  I think the placement of the light pole is erroneous.  And so you might want to take a look at that. Also, for your information, they got those little roundabouts in Mexico City, which has about the worst traffic in the world.  And they are called gloriettas.  And they're neat and everything.  But anyhoo, you might want to go take a look at that.
Reply: The light poles have been a problem for some drivers.  Some modifications are planned for the roundabout in the summer of 2002 that should clear up those problems. The central island will be a little larger, and the exits will be a little more open. The design intent was to follow the English model for modern roundabouts.  Traffic circles from other places, including Mexico have design standards that are different from the intent of the Southport Drive project.

Comment: I'd like to register one vote in favor of the roundabouts.  I think they work very well.  It's going to take some training and perhaps they need to be a little bit larger.  But I think they're an excellent way to avoid four-way stops and to keep traffic moving.  And I think the one at Dowling that's projected is going to be excellent. 

Comment: My husband and I are very much in favor of roundabouts, having experienced them in Europe.  And we think they would help with pollution, red light running.  We'd like to see way more roundabouts in this town.  We tried your little one out in Southport, thought it was on the small side, a little tight, but still a good start, and hope that we see more of them.

Comment: I live out in Southport on Washington Drive.  And just wanted to give a quick comment on the roundabout there.  I'm strongly in support of the roundabout.  I think it's been a good addition.  It moves traffic for us getting out onto Southport much better. Also, for pedestrians trying to walk across Southport Drive, being able to walk across there as opposed to what used to be there is much better.  You know, trying to walk across four lanes would have been a nightmare.  So it's much safer, I think, for adults or certainly children to go across there.  It feels much safer, a lot more visibility. Obviously, the folks coming from the south as we try to get out are not slowing down.  That's the biggest problem is they just flat don't slow down as they get up to the roundabout there.  I don't know if it would be better to have maybe a flashing light warning them as they are coming up to it both directions to slow down. But again, for someone living on Washington like myself, I'm strongly in support of the roundabout.

Comment: I live on Spindrift Loop and access and use that roundabout every day going to and from my house.  I don't think we need anymore abundance of signage.  I think personally that signs are really urban clutter.  And we've got too many of them already.  So I'd really like not to see a bunch of signs go up to try to help every idiot that doesn't understand a roundabout. I think you're much better served or will be much better served by a little more education to the public by sending out letters to people in the area and maybe having the Daily News or maybe the State of Alaska, whoever's responsible, pay for some kind of information in the local paper, be it the Daily News, the Press and whatever. But I'm really against a lot of signage.  When you first opened that roundabout, there were some enormous signs on it which made me want to go out in the middle of the night and take them down.  And I don't know if someone went out in the middle of the night and took them down or not.  But before I could really make the phone calls and send the e-mails, they were taken down and changed.  So no to more signs.  Yes to more education. 

Comment: I grew up on the East Coast where roundabouts are very, very common.  And the only comment I would have about this roundabout is that it is woefully inadequate compared to the roundabouts where I grew up because it is about maybe one fourth or one fifth the normal size of a roundabout.  And I think that is 90 percent of the problem.  Back where I come from, even in cruddy old Boston, Massachusetts where the drivers are as aggressive as they get, the roundabouts worked very, very well.  But they are much, much larger than that little dinky thing out there.
Reply: The design intent was to follow the English model for modern roundabouts.  Traffic circles from other places have design standards that are different from the intent of the Southport Drive project. Learn about the differences between old-style traffic circles and modern roundabouts.

Comment: I want to give you a positive comment about the traffic circles in Alaska, here in Anchorage, specifically.  And I think they're a great idea.  And I'm sure a lot of people are giving you a lot of heat for it, but I'm saying good job.  Install more of them.  Save people time.  They are better -- people do just as well in them as they do in four-way stops.  And that's my opinion.

Comment: Those roundabouts are, I think, excellent.  I drove around in Africa, kind of got used to them.  And I know in Cape Town and also in London, you don't have to stop, you know.  But, you know, you can slow down.  And it's kind of a fast deal.  But I notice over there after people got used to them -- there's one in Cape Town that was like -- it must have been probably ten or 12 lanes.  And it was the center.  And there was quite a few intersections there.  And I was amazed at how well people, after they got used to it, were able to zip around in that thing accident-free. I'd like to see more of them.  They keep traffic flowing better and, I think, ultimately are safer.  We have people running through these stop signs.

Comment: I'm commenting about your roundabout plan.  It stinks.  You know, you can do a lot better than that if you're an engineer.  So that's my opinion.

Comment: I have a comment about the roundabout and the problems with people speeding, I guess, on Southport.  The solution to that would be have the overpaid police department that we have to set out there with radar guns and write people tickets.  And just, you know, generally hit people where it hurts the worst, and that's their pocketbook. Instead of raising or lowering the speed limit or trying to come up with some kind of new-fangled idea that's not going to work, traffic control is best done by the presence of police officers.  And we have the highest paid police officers in the nation.  Let's make them do their jobs, get out there and write some tickets.
Reply: Modern Roundabouts have been found to save lives and property damage over other forms of intersections.  Please see the Insurance Institute study (ADOBE PDF FORMAT). Enforcement is important, but the accident statistics on intersections converted to modern roundabouts in the U.S. is compelling.

Comment: I was born and raised in Anchorage.  I live in Big Lake now.  I've never driven on a roundabout, but I'm going to go drive on the one that we have here in Anchorage right now.  And I think they're the greatest thing since Hershey bars.  Just the concept alone is terrific.  I don't know why people are having problems.  I think you ought to replace every four-way stop in town with a roundabout.

Comment: I live out in Wasilla.  I used to live in Dallas, Texas, where they had one of these Russian roulette wheels.  And they didn't work down there and I don't know why they would work up here in the snow.  They are very dangerous, stupid and illogical to have in the snow.  You know, whoever came up with this idea, obviously hasn't driven in one before.  Because in Dallas, they had wrecks in them constantly.  And up here, I guess you guys are having wrecks in them constantly.  And that ought to be enough to tell you they don't work.
Reply: The design intent was to follow the English model for modern roundabouts.  Traffic circles from other places, including Dallas have design standards that are different from the intent of the Southport Drive project. Learn about the differences between old-style traffic circles and modern roundabouts. Modern roundabouts have an excellent safety record.  To learn about accident statistics at American intersections hat have been converted to modern roundabouts, please see the Insurance Institute study (ADOBE PDF FORMAT).

Comment: I went over there and looked at the roundabout.  I've ridden on the roundabout that they have in Edmonton, Alberta and there's one in Alton, Illinois that I drive around once in a while.  And I see the problem with what you got over there, it's too small.  It's like a little miniature thing, like you ought to fold it up and take it over to the Planning Commission to see if you can get the plans improved.  Or else you should take your kids over there in their tricycles and let them play on it.  It should be about four times that big around. And there shouldn't be any obstruction in the middle of it so you can't see all vehicles that are in it.  You don't need a flower pot in the middle of it so you can't see.  And over there, there's some big houses over there and I'm sure there will be some big moving trucks over there that need to get around this thing.  I mean, they work good if they're big enough, but this is way too small.  But I suppose if you'd made it bigger, then you'd have lost the space for a house site.
Reply: The design intent was to follow the English model for modern roundabouts.  Traffic circles from other places have design standards that are different from the intent of the Southport Drive project. Learn about the differences between old-style traffic circles and modern roundabouts. Design guides for modern roundabouts suggest blocking the vision in the middle of the central island.  Entering a modern roundabout is almost exactly like turning right at a red light.  A driver needs to look off to the left, recognize a gap in traffic, and then proceed.  The vision is blocked across the intersection because that traffic can not come all the way around the central island in the length of time required for you to clear the intersection.  The design guides suggest blocking the vision to help prevent indecision at the YIELD line.