City gives traffic circles another spin

A new roundabout, to be built in a north Clearwater Beach neighborhood, will be smaller and less busy than the one at the island's entrance.

By CHRISTINA HEADRICK

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 16, 2000

CLEARWATER -- The City Commission voted Thursday to install an "intersection reconfiguration feature" on north Clearwater Beach. Or at least that's how Commissioner Ed Hooper urged his colleagues to describe the project.

Anything to avoid using the "r" word, Hooper joked. As in "roundabout."

As in Clearwater Beach's controversial, congested roundabout that opened at the entranceway to the island in December. As in the roundabout that has been the site of 309 fender-benders to date.

But despite all that, on Thursday the City Commission approved a roundabout once again.

Clearwater will construct a second roundabout in a north Clearwater Beach neighborhood, this one much smaller and less busy than the oval at the island's entranceway.

City engineers say the new roundabout -- to be constructed at the intersection of Acacia Street and Mandalay Avenue -- will have numerous benefits.

It is designed to slow down traffic on Mandalay and provide better brick crosswalks for pedestrians, said City Engineer Mike Quillen.

Located at the edge of the city's bustling tourist district, the roundabout also should give tourists a convenient way to make a U-turn. That would help them avoid driving into a northern beach neighborhood, where they might have to pull into a driveway to get turned around.

Beautification will be another plus, Quillen said. The center of the roundabout will have a cluster of palm trees surrounded by hot pink penta flowers and decorative grasses, similar to the landscaping at the beach's entranceway.

But the new project's design will be much simpler, with only one lane of traffic around the circle. The large roundabout has two lanes of traffic, which has caused confusion over how to navigate it.

To make driving the big roundabout easier, the city last week installed more explicit directional signs. Earlier this spring, a traffic signal was added to regulate cars entering the circle from the mainland. And more changes could be in the works after a public forum later this summer.

No cost estimate has been released for the work. Officials did ask one local contractor to make a guess about possible costs. The contractor estimated as much as $1-million.

None of that has discouraged the Clearwater Beach Association from giving its whole-hearted endorsement to the smaller roundabout. The association has even donated $3,000 toward the circle's construction.

Several beach residents also came to Thursday's commission meeting to urge approval of the smaller roundabout project.

"I strongly support the circle," said Lisa Leary, who lives on Acacia Street near the busy Mandalay intersection. "As opposed to this," she said, holding up a hand-drawn diagram showing points where she believes cars are likely to crash in the existing intersection.

Leary said she routinely sees people making U-turns in the middle of the intersection.

Commissioners had some questions about the project earlier in the week. They even considered delaying its approval to make sure that nearby residents favored the proposal.

Commissioner Ed Hart questioned the $305,523 cost of the project, originally estimated at about $100,000, he said. The price tag rose, Quillen explained, when the city decided to do more extensive work to improve underground drainage pipes. The area is prone to street flooding.

With the commission's approval Thursday, the new roundabout is expected to be complete within 150 days under a contract with Steve's Excavating & Paving Inc.

And even then, Clearwater may not be finished with roundabouts. City officials say a third neighborhood in northeast Clearwater, north of Drew Street, has requested its own roundabout. The city is considering the request.

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