Slowing down: Traffic circle experiment begins in Othello

OTHELLO — An experiment to determine the effectiveness of traffic circles in reducing collisions in a residential area is underway, as drivers in the neighborhood might already know.

The experiment has prompted a lively discussion on the city’s social media page.

The 27 traffic circles were installed last week in neighborhoods between Main and Ash streets and Seventh and 14th avenues. City engineer Shawn O’Brien wrote in a press release the traffic circles will stay through 2022.

“This area was selected for the pilot study due to a history of a high number of accidents and complaints of speeding,” O’Brien wrote.

The pilot project neighborhood lies between Othello High School on Seventh Avenue, McFarland Middle School on 10th Avenue and Scootney Springs and Wahitis elementary schools on 14th Avenue. The Columbia Basin Health Association clinic also is on 14th Avenue. As a result, many drivers cut through the residential neighborhood on their way to these locations.

The traffic circles are concrete bumpers laid out in a diamond pattern with reflector posts at each corner. They’ve been installed at intersections on Hemlock, Larch, Spruce, Elm, Ash and Oak streets. Stop signs at those intersections have been removed.

And they prompted many questions and some complaints on social media.

“These were a terrible idea,” wrote Kaela McIndoe.

“It’s the dumbest thing I have ever seen our town do,” wrote Sharon Montgomery Entz.

“Why does Othello have to copycat Moses Lake?” wrote Jake Mendez Jr. “Might as well put up a large clock in the middle that doesn’t work, too.”

People posted gifs with the title, “Be Gone.” Others wondered how the traffic circles would work when snow came and city crews had to plow the streets. There were questions about stop signs at the intersections as an alternative.

Some disputed the idea the traffic circles would deter people from the shortcut through the residential streets.

“Pretty sure those people racing down the streets are still going to do it,” wrote Anthony Akins.

“I think reckless drivers are still going to drive recklessly regardless of what is in the residential area,” wrote Jacky Wright.

And there was plenty of talk about parking.

“How do you address the parked cars on the side of the road?” asked Jennifer Hubbard-Lewis. “Hardly any room to get around those things.”

In reply, planning commission chair Chris Dorow wrote parking is prohibited within 20 feet of the corner in all intersections. The no-parking zones along the curbs will be painted yellow.

In reply to questions about snow plowing, Dorow wrote it was taken into account when planning the design. Dorow said the concerns about snow plowing also applied to emergency vehicles like fire trucks.

“There were a number of different designs that were mapped out, tried and considered,” he wrote. “The diamond was preferred over the circle or the hexagon as the easiest for emergency vehicles to traverse and maintenance to plow.”

Dorow also wrote additional stop signs were considered and rejected.

“There is a ton – and I mean a ton – of traffic studies showing the least effective way to prevent accidents is stop signs. Now, you didn’t even need to read much to see this in action. Before the circles were placed, you could sit on Hemlock and see how long it took to run one of the Hemlock stop signs. You wouldn’t have to wait more than 10 minutes,” Dorow wrote.

City officials measured speeds and traffic volumes along each street prior to installing the traffic circles, and O’Brien shared some of the results.

The speed limit in the pilot project zone is 25 mph.

“Every street recorded a vehicle traveling 39 mph or higher. Four of the 12 streets recorded vehicles traveling at 50 mph or greater,” O’Brien wrote. “The highest speeds detected were on 11th Avenue near Larch Street, where a vehicle traveling north was going 67 mph and a vehicle heading south was measured at 64 mph. All streets had at least one day where more than 11% of the vehicles were traveling above the speed limit. Over 45% of the vehicles traveling on 11th Avenue during the three-week period were speeding,” he wrote. “During the last 10 years, this residential area has experienced 12 to 18 accidents annually.”

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.