Wednesday, August 5, 2009

"Roundabout"... here we go.... call the "tow" truck..

Well it looks like the new "roundabout" is off to a great start and it appears that there is already a car crash in the first turn... Paul Mifsud of Island Chevrolet Cadillac Ltd. has launched a formal appeal with IRAC on the City's decision to construct a "roundabout" in front of their business on Mount Edward Road the "Action Corner"... and I don't blame them... Clifford Lee is way out of line here not sticking up for the local businesses and continuing to push through this "over-priced" intersection... as I've said before there is a lot better uses and priorities of our taxpayers dollars in improving our streets than this "silly" intersection... it will be interesting to see how this appeal proceeds as the City Development Department have not followed "their own bylaws" in trying to fast track this project... I've been trying to get a copy of the "development permit" and they haven't issued one and I can't seem to get a copy of the "traffic study" showing the impact of the Roundabout on the neighbouring properties as I suspect they haven’t done one... City Council should step back and follow the "process" and let the taxpaying public have a look at the costs and options before they proceed.... the City should have got the message at the Peter Pan Intersection public meetings when their Public Works Department tried to shove a Roundabout down our throats back then and “taxpayers” gave them an ear full (but they never listen).... don't get me wrong here as I'm not against "roundabouts" I'm just against the lack of process the City used in deciding to proceed in this matter without looking at all the options and talking to all the stake holders.... another nice “welcome” to the City for a new business operator from Clifford Lee and his Team....

8 comments:

Andrew said...

You are putting all of the blame on Lee. If I remember correctly, the mayor's vote was not needed to pass or stop the roundabout motion.

Anonymous said...

Not only is a roundabout for that intersection ridiculous given the size of the area, Island drivers are the worst around.... it would be a recipe for disaster.

Anonymous said...

As seen on Twitter:

Don't Be So Square -- Why American drivers should learn to love the roundabout.

http://www.slate.com/id/2223035/

The article predicts all you naysayers and so-called "don't get ahead gang".

"Townspeople raise concerns. Roundabouts are not safe, they say. They are confusing. They are bad for pedestrians. They will hurt local businesses. They are more expensive than traditional solutions."

SOUND FAMILIAR?

Anonymous said...

Yes Island drivers are terrible but roundabouts are extremely effective solutions. Comment should be limited to those who actually have a reasonable amount of experience of them - I have heard the most ridiculous hogwash to justify opposing a solution which works effectively around the world. And if you think Island drivers are bad - spend some time in Italy. And roundabouts work just fine there too. Oddly Canadians need to learn tiny roundabouts work fine too.

Anonymous said...

Time for change at City Hall. How does a roundabout take priority over University Ave...our entrance to our capital city. We need business minded people to get involved in our city. Maybe it is time we look at the current election system by ward.

Tim Banks said...

Andrew... if Lee had any leadership skills he would have asked to postpone the vote until Council got all the facts and a copy of the traffic report... then maybe a private meeting with the business owners to address their concerns would have been a way of resolving things before they got to this level... the Mayor should be a leader not "hidden" behind a non vote...

jk_pei said...

The biggest problem as I see it, isn't whether or not a roundabout is a good idea, it's the fact that there are huge backlogs of traffic on North River Road and University Ave all day, every day.

Why not spend money on a traffic problem that needs fixing!

Anonymous said...

Does anyone think that University Ave would win the "Ugly" Award? Let's have an annual contest. Maybe it would finally get City Council's attention.