Roundabout Contest
I hear that the Bungalow Haven neighborhood has an email circulating about what to install on the new roundabouts as apparently the Architectural Board of Review can't decide. Like King Carlos, who originally served as an entryway to DLG Plaza -- what could be the entryway to this distinctive neighborhood?
Of course nice plantings and a sign would be the obvious choice -- but some have suggested a bulldozer, a statue of St. Francis and even a big dollar sign. Sounds like most people do not like the new roundabout -- have any good ideas?
Of course nice plantings and a sign would be the obvious choice -- but some have suggested a bulldozer, a statue of St. Francis and even a big dollar sign. Sounds like most people do not like the new roundabout -- have any good ideas?
posted by Sara De la Guerra | 1/29/2007 07:18:00 PM
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33 Comments:
How about a corpse. Call it preemptive artwork.
Wow -- kind of dark...do y'all really think it's that unsafe?
I love dark humor.
The reality is that we are comparing accidents rates and roundabouts are safer overall and especially when comparing broadside smashups in your typical stop sign instant corpse intersections. Ketchup please.
In this neighborhood environment small roundabouts work really well to move and simultaneously slow traffic while improving safety for all users.
Anyone who merely uses these streets such as Olive Street should have to pay each resident a dime for each time they use this original classic Santa Barbara Street...because you are a burden!
Best wishes to the ABR in picking what is probably nit picking a plethora of beautiful designs.
Anybody else heard that the neighborhood firehouse was told to be quiet about their concerns about the roundabouts? They don't like them at all.
a can of biodiesel fuel
if this city needs anything, it is more steet signs!
I finally got out to see UCSB's new roundabout at its front gate... not bad, but the signage sucks. They must assume everyone knows where they are going already.
It is a big empty circle. Maybe Pacific Beverage could erect a giant modern fountain with kegs, gallon vodka bottles, and simulated alcohol flowing, in honor of the profit IV students generate for them.
I heard UCSB will spend a few million on a fancy gate structure. And for UCSB's workers, who now earn about 20% less then comparable workers.... let them eat cake!
Place a nice comfy chair right in the center, and require every city planner, transportation "expert," Planning Commissioner and City Council Member to take turns sitting there for just an hour a week in that chair so they can see first-hand how their decisions are destroying the neighborhood. And don't stop with that one, place the roundabouts with chairs and and the same requirement in every neighborhood in the city. Immersion in reality might help them make some informed decisions about traffic and development.
"entryway to this distinctive neighborhood"
Oh, please...
It's a neighborhood of nice little houses but is it really that big of a deal to anyone other than Cheri Rae? How many of the "neighbors" even know each other's names?
Why is it every time anything gets built in SB - even a little roundabout - that everybody has to get involved and make it some kind of monument or spend countless meetings trying to micro-manage the staff and argue over the specific color "palette" of the plants that will be planted in the middle. It's simply a ridiculous attitude. We need to let it go and move on to bigger issues that challenge the planet, not just our little piece of it.
how exactly are the traffic-calming devices destroying the neighborhood? the ever-increasing volume of traffic and excessive vehicle speeds are significant contributions to the deterioration of the quality of life in our neighborhoods. should we ban through traffic? should we put four way stops on all corners and subject the neighborhoods to increased noise and pollution not to mention inconveniencing motorists? if there is a better solution than that proposed by the city, i'd like to know about it.
For all the comments like that by Victoria, they seldom if ever describe how exactly a traffic calming installation "destroys" or "ruins" a neighborhood.
Why is a structure that requires vehicles to slow down to the speed limit so bad? Yes, I know that no structure in the street looks and feels better than any structure, but why is speeding so much more acceptable?
Is this that the immediate neighbors still want to speed, but do not want those passing through to speed?
Or, is this a disagreement that drivers really do not slow down to pass through the roundabout or other traffic calming structure?
Roundabouts are fine, but those idiotic barriers on Garden St. are not, as they do not slow traffic, they only make life *much* more dangerous for bicycle riders.
From observation and participation: drivers don't slow down, they don't yield, and many of them cut the roundabouts. Traffic doesn't flow around the obstructions, and there isn't a rule of right of way or yielding like there should be; rather it becomes a game of chicken, with the faster, more intimidating drivers winning out.
I'd like to see that neighborhood leveled, and high rise, affordable, and sustainable housing take its place.
In my experience, the problem with the roundabouts in the Bungalow Haven area & nearby is that they do not cause cars to slow down to any significant degree. Others may differ, but I've experimented with them myself & found that it's easy to maintain an over-the-limit speed while circumnavigating them. At least this has been true with an old Volvo sedan; maybe it's different for those driving SUV's & other large vehicles--including fire trucks, unfortunately.
What would Pearl do?
I don't think she'd be for these hideous things!
If we had more density in this area, with more retail, people could just walk.
This area isn't a trailer park. If you must have these things, put them on th west side.
UCSB UPDATE: ... been taking the UCSB roundabout the last few weeks. It seems to work quite well but it does slow cars down, which some seem to find unpleasant or annoying in SB. The signs finally did go up and work OK, someday one presumes there'll be plants, trees, and stuff.
A "gate" or somesuch feature is planned nearby but I hear its donor funded so its not like they are gonna give the money for salaries for faculty or staff.
I love roundabouts; they should be as common here as they are in the UK. That said, I'll agree with the other poster that those cheesy doughnuts on the East Side are not real roundabouts. They're some guy's lame idea to get people to slow down. Nice try, sorta, but no dice.
Hey Anon 3:15,
I've lived here over twenty years, with most of those years on the upper eastside and lower riviera. Now I'm on the lower westside, so low, that if I was any lower, I would be under it. For the record there is no difference between my place and yours. And I dig trailer parks.
where the hell is the "bungalow haven neighborhood?"
It seems obvious that incendiary comments like "I'd like to see that neighborhood leveled, and high rise, affordable, and sustainable housing take its place" and "If you must have these things, put them on th west side" are planted by mischievous anonymice who chuckle to themselves as they envision many furious defensive & possibly entertaining postings bubbling up in response. But some of us are on to you guys & we are refusing to take the bait. ;-)
I'll agree with the other poster that those cheesy doughnuts on the East Side are not real roundabouts.
Not only the cheesy doughnuts, which aren't roundabouts at all, but the curb wideners, which eliminate the parking lane and shoulder, forcing bicycles into the traffic lane. These things are stupid and pointless, and there's a major lawsuit against the city waiting to happen.
The big problem is they are temporary, ugly, and falling apart. The "sign" at Alta Vista and Victoria used to be held up by sand bags, but the bags are now disintegrated to the point where the sign - along with its graffiti - is held up crookedly by a pile of sand. Not safe. Let's quit nit-picking about the designs, and get the permanent installations done before someone gets killed.
Or take these things down before someone gets killed.
ahh, but the realtors find them so convenient and use them regularly to place their open house signs...since so many people are now moving out of their homes and brand-new condos in the neighborhood because of the traffic, noise, congestion and promise of so much more to come, with Cottage's 34 market rate and 81 subsidized units.
Bicycles are vehicles and do not have a separate lane. Thus, if bike riders rid properly, they would not be running into the curb extension as a traffic calming structure and instead would be in the lane.
Take the lane and stop acting like a bike is a toy relegated to the gutter!
Just wondered if anyone, like Sara, noticed the race card was pulled by anonymous 1:30 @ 3:15p.m.
The subtleties that an undesirable element be castigate to another neighborhood is pretty typical of the San Roque, Samarkand and Mesa neighborhoods.
One retired police officer several years ago mentioned that he was delighted to have the Northside beat and even confided that the police personnel referred to the beat as the "Great White North" guha guha.
Sara the race issue is alive everywhere. When it surfaces in your blog and you don't notice it or incorrectly chastise me for luridly pointing it out, I hope that you will seriously consider not censoring.
Sara this blog serves a purpose. For locals to speak. If your intent in this blog was to be a forum open discussion then let it happen. If you want to make money on the blog then you will need to censor and start selling advertisement space. If you do the later you will become the News Press, Independent or edhat....Perhaps you will make money but you will not make a difference. Freaky indeed.
donaldo -- I actually didn't censor either one of you, although I noticed both and perhaps should have said something to 3:15 pm as well. Perhaps I expect more from you as I assume you are a regular and appreciate where you are coming from?
Even so -- your point is well taken and I don't catch everything. I won't sell advertising here or censor (except in obvious, rare cases) because I do want to make a difference. EdHat and Independent serve a great purpose as well. Those close to me say "I wish you made money on BlogaBarbara" but I say getting you, Eckerman, FDS, worker bee and Joe A in the same room is worth the price of admission...it's worth it for the public to see all sides of the issue, no?
Two accidents in three days 1/2 block from one of those ugly, unsafe obstructions we call rounabouts. Last one was just this afternoon, complete with four police cars on the scene. Yeah, these "traffic calming devices" are just great.
Let's start a death pool. Any guesses on which TCD will cause the first fatality?
I won't ride my bike anywhere near these things after a couple of close calls. They force riders right into speeding traffic.
"If we had more density in this area, with more retail, people could just walk"
I walk these neighborhoods each and every day. You can easily walk through this area - you just need to get out of your car and try it for once.
You must be unemployed with all the time in the world. Some of us are holding down multiple jobs just to pay the rent. No time for walking, barely time to see the family.
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