Keep going with the flow of traffic roundabouts

This editorial appears in the March 30, 2011, Yakima Herald-Republic.

State transportation officials are the first to say it: A double-lane roundabout requires, umm, a learning curve.

Questions can befuddle a driver who’s moving at arterial speeds into the pair of Valley Mall Boulevard roundabouts, which opened late last year. Who yields to whom? Which lane is the proper one? What do those lane markers mean? On which road do I turn off?

Legitimate queries, but Don Whitehouse, the regional administrator for the state Department of Transportation, said he hears a different question most often: "The biggest comment is, ‘Where did all the traffic go?’ "  His answer finds him on a roll: "People are not stopped at the intersection anymore."

Change can be bumpy. But Whitehouse said Valley drivers are getting more comfortable with changes to the well-used road that links Valley Mall with Interstate 82.

Smooth traffic flow and safety were indeed the selling points of the project, which remains a $34.3 million work in progress. The intersection was an already-busy freeway interchange complicated by Rudkin Road’s cozy junction just to the west of an offbound I-82 ramp. Whitehouse said the roundabout’s circular flow averts the T-bone crashes that  debilitate vehicles and drivers alike; "The T-bone is what kills people. Roundabouts basically eliminate the possibility of that happening," Whitehouse said.

He cited national statistics showing roundabouts cut fatalities by 70 percent compared to their layout as standard intersections. "The reason is people slow down,"  he said.  Whitehouse indicated safety statistics in Union Gap so far can’t be beat, and that’s not figurative: He said no accident reports have been filed to the DOT on the affected streets since the roundabouts opened. Not one. "We’ve had rumors of a couple of fender-benders," he said of an area that in preroundabout days saw 10 accident reports a year on average.  

Union Gap, which handles the Rudkin Road segment, reported the intersection went from No. 1 in the city in property damage to near the bottom after the roundabouts opened. Union Gap said the minor accidents occurred recently as once-cautious, now-confident motorists began hitting the roundabouts at higher speeds.

Between 12,000 and 16,000 cars move daily along the project with two roundabouts in place; a third is under construction just east of the I-82 interchange. When completed, the third roundabout will handle Valley Mall-bound traffic from the Lower Valley and offer access to an expanded Yakima Greenway parking lot. Whitehouse predicted traffic will grow steadily, at 11⁄2 percent to 2 percent annually, and the roundabouts will accommodate an estimated 36,000 vehicles expected in 20 years. Before the project, about 22,000 vehicles daily used Valley Mall Boulevard.

Yakima had some familiarity with roundabouts; an existing one connects Fifth Avenue with Fruitvale Boulevard. But that one involves a single lane; Valley Mall’s double lane seemed to more than double the complications. It certainly did in Tri-Cities.

A double-lane roundabout in Kennewick prompted a Richland man to start an online campaign to force changes, saying the setup is too confusing. Whitehouse said that roundabout, too, is doing its job, handling a 60 percent increase in traffic volumes since its construction with no increase in accidents.

Whitehouse said acceptance has gone smoother here. "I’d say the number of positive comments outweighs the negative by 10:1. The biggest complaint we get is people who fail to yield. When you enter it, you need to yield to people in the roundabout. If you have a gap, you can slow down and enter the roundabout."

Once in the roundabout, said Whitehouse, the same rules apply as on a multilane street. "If you plan to go straight or turn, left stay in the left lane. You can do a U-turn in the left lane. If you plan to go straight or right, stay in the right lane." More info on the rules of the roundabout are at the department’s website, wsdot.wa.gov.

The DOT administrator said his department has implemented some minor changes since the opening — such as installing a sign warning motorists to yield to both lanes, and adding signs that direct all vehicles to the right while commencing the circle. Others are in the works;  "We’ve got to fix the striping," Whitehouse said of wintertime wear on the paint in the road, and after the third roundabout opens, "We’re going to look at the signing and make sure it’s as user-friendly as possible."

Most of us still may be motoring gently through the area in question, but we’re gratified to hear that the state deems it a smooth ride so far. And we encourage the department to keep doing the steps that make this process as straightforward as a series of curves can be.

• Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Sharon J. Prill, Bob Crider, Frank Purdy and Karen Troianello.