Roundabouts on a 4-lane Blvd - really?
Imjin
Parkway has become an alternative route for commuters between Salinas and the
Monterey peninsula because of massive traffic congestion on the Monterey-Salinas
highway.
The Transportation Agency of Monterey County (TAMC)
recently awarded Marina funds to design and complete an environmental review
(EIR) of improvements to Imjin Parkway. Without
question the remaining short section of
this boulevard should properly be widened to four lanes.
But
there's more. Incredibly, part of this
EIR request includes replacing signal intersections with roundabouts. Why?
Considering
the main object of multi-lane boulevards and/or "free-ways" is to expeditiously
move traffic, why would any responsible planner recommend a roundabout on a
boulevard designed to accommodate 45-to-60 MPH traffic!
One might recall that TAMC is the same organization
recommending a sales tax increase of .38 percent for unidentified road projects
with no definite sunset date and are willing to pay as much as $135,000 for a
consultant to get this measure on the June or November 2016 ballot.
I
have to ask "Is this the kind of road improvements we can expect if this tax is
passed?"