Coronado's Most Read Newspaper & Community Website

Pomona/7th Street/Adella Round About

The City has recently installed a temporary round about at the intersection of Pomona/7th Street/Adella Ave. The purpose of this round about is to make this intersection and its traffic flow safer as well as to calm traffic going down Pomona Avenue.

I am curious: what do you think of this round about?

0 members like this

Comment by lisa on March 18, 2009 at 7:27am: I think it will be effective in slowing people down on Pomona. It make take us awhile to learn how to properly use a roundabout like the Europeans, but once we understand how to yield to one the cars on our left, I think it will be great. My kids play at the park on Pomona, so I will be glad for slower traffic. Casey, why so you say it is "temporary"? It looks pretty permanent to me.

Comment by Mayor Casey Tanaka on March 18, 2009 at 8:04am: The City Council voted to give it a look for a six month period. After that trial period, the Council will need to make a final decision about making a round about at that intersection permanent or not.

Comment by kaye on March 18, 2009 at 8:46pm: Seems like a waste. It doesn't slow you down THAT much, traffic isn't that bad there & man it is UGLY (no greenery in the middle. Actually seems like it might be more dangerous in the dark.

Comment by Mayor Casey Tanaka on March 18, 2009 at 11:15pm: Thank you for the feedback. If the round about becomes permanent, there would be greenery added to the center of the round about. The current temporary set up mainly simulates how the traffic would flow around the traffic circle. Thanks again!!

Comment by Janice Zoradi on March 19, 2009 at 6:59am: I am supportive of the round about as a traffic calming aid, and I think it's a smart engineering move for the island. Once people get used to it they will enjoy navigating it, much like residents of Santa Barbara do. I hope it becomes a permanent part of island life.

Comment by Jamie Edmonds on March 19, 2009 at 11:57am: If implemented correctly I think roundabouts are a GREAT solution to traffic issues. For one, in addition to slowing traffic in general and making it much safer for pedestrians and bicyclists they also virtually eliminate the head-on and T-Bone collisions which have a much higher injury and/or fatality rate. If they're made large enough for our Fire Apparatus, they've got to be better than just putting another speed bump every block! Speed bumps/humps are very hard on our heavy fire vehicles' suspensions and I pity my poor patients riding in the back of my ambulance going down these speed bump infested streets which previously were great ways to get my patients quickly to the hospital.
Re: roundabouts being "ugly" do not judge this "temporary one" too harshly. They can be made very attractive and don't worry, I'm sure the City's final version will be done beautifully!
Also, while very common in a LOT of Europe for many years, they are finally popping up all over the U.S., even here in San Diego County. Here's more than you wanted to know about roundabouts, etc.:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout#Difference_from_traffic_circles_and_rotaries
And be sure to check out what the City of Bend Oregon is doing with roundabouts:
http://www.ci.bend.or.us/roundabouts/history_of_rab.html

Comment by Tom R on March 19, 2009 at 3:27pm: Thanks for keeping us posted on the changes to Coronado. I was quite surprised by the round about last week...what can I say, I live on the other side of Orange. I've seen them used very effectively in other communities and since Coronado sees so much traffic for such a small area, it makes great sense (especially if you have kids). Can't wait for the new Spreckels Park.

Comment by Mayor Casey Tanaka on March 19, 2009 at 9:21pm: Great feedback!! Keep it coming :-)

Comment by Harry Schwartz on March 22, 2009 at 10:44pm: Casey:
Thanks for this opportunity to provide feedback. I think the roundabout in just a short time has significantly improved the safety of Pomona Ave and in particular the intersection of Adella, Seventh and Pomona. We live on Pomona just north of where cars exit the roundabout. For the first time in 16 years we feel safe backing out of our driveway. What a difference it has made. I use that intersection everyday to come home from work. It has always been a challenge to come down 7th and get across Pomona. There have been many close calls where I thought someone was going south on Pomona, but they were headed to Adella or I thought they were continuing north on Pomona but they were making the sweeping turn to 7th. And crossing Pomona for the kids in the neighborhood is so much better now. Once this becomes a permanent installation it will not only make our neighborhood safer but will create a striking visual appearance consistent with the other local developments like the new Rotary Park and the center islands of Orange Avenue. Great vision Casey - keep up the good work.

Photo Star Comment by SBGrad on March 23, 2009 at 6:25am: I went out of my way last Friday to drive through the roundabout. It certainly slowed me down and I hope when the trial period is over it is made permanent. Like somebody else said, I prefer roundabouts to speed bumps.

Maybe the City can come up with something similiar for the 10th/Pomona/Glorietta intersection at the tennis courts? That intersection is far busier than 7th/Pomona.