City supports a roundabout intersection at future Wal-Mart site

A problematic intersection near the site of Carson City's future Wal-Mart will likely be replaced with roundabout, now that the city's transportation commission has agreed to support the design.

The Carson City Regional Transportation Commission voted Wednesday night to support a recommendation by city engineers and an outside consulting firm to go with the circular design over a traditional signal-managed intersection at the meeting of Roop Street and Hot Springs Road, where Wal-Mart is building a supercenter.

Saying he'd first like to hear what other nearby businesses think about it, Commissioner Mike Zola was the lone dissenter. Commissioner Shelly Aldean echoed Zola's concerns, but said the vote was only to support a recommendation, not a clearance to build.

The commissioners have heard the proposal before, but tabled it, saying they wanted Wal-Mart to study the pros and cons of a roundabout versus a signal intersection.

John Long, an official with the transportation-consulting firm DKS Associates, told the commission that both a roundabout and a regular intersection would have no problems handling traffic now or in the future. But, he said, the extra study confirmed a roundabout would be a better fit than a traditional intersection in virtually every aspect.

To make a signal-managed intersection work, Long said, turn lanes in streets coming into the intersection would have to be lengthened to handle the traffic.

A roundabout, however, would do away with the need for turn lanes and would lower the time spent waiting at the intersection. It would also create shorter lines than a signal - an important factor, since lines could block entrances to other businesses or homes.

A roundabout would also make the awkward meeting of Roop Street and Hot Springs Road more navigable, said Deputy City Engineer John Flansberg.

Sue Newberry, a vocal Carson City advocate of pedestrian-friendly streets, told the commission roundabouts are far safer than regular intersections and, for the most part, far easier to get through on foot. They also produce fewer accidents than traditional intersections, she said. Accidents that do occur in roundabouts are also generally much less serious, according to Long.

On top of it all, Newberry said, roundabouts look better than signals and turn lanes.

"Every time we get an opportunity to make (Carson City) even more beautiful, we should."

A new roundabout, however, should come with an education campaign that makes it obvious to drivers that they're supposed to turn right into it, merging into traffic, and turn right out of it at the street they're looking for.

Commissioner Charles DesJardins, admittedly not a fan of the city's only current roundabout at Fifth Street and Edmonds Drive, agreed.

"We really need to educate our public in how to drive in a roundabout environment."

n Contact Cory McConnell at cmcconnell@nevadaappeal.com.