Roundabout in Pahoa?

[malolo]

Curious as to whether anyone here attended the public meeting on January 16th regarding the proposed-Pahoa-roundabout. It was initially to have been held back in December, but was rescheduled for this past Wednesday.

Here's the meeting-link as well as the artist's/(ostrich's?) rendering...

http://bigislandnow.com/2012/12/12/publi...oundabout/

I found the link withIN the article to be enlightening/froghtening as well. Hard to imagine the traffic-nightmare being even worse than it already is.... but it looks like that's what we have to look forward to folks.

Having lived in Puna for over 25 years, having barely escaped death and/or dismemberment a number of times on my 10-times-a-week white-knuckle drive through those stupid (soon to be stupider?) intersections, all I can say is "Roundabout?" Gimme a Break (...and gimme some traffic lights!)!"

[PaulW]

Any particular bird?

[mailes]

We only have chicken beaks.

round·a·bout
/#712;round#601;#716;bout/
Noun
A short, fitted jacket worn by men and boys.

edited because op edited..original only said..give me a beak

[punafish]

Change is hard for most people to accept. It won't be worse than what we have.

[PaulW]

What do you have against roundabouts, except for thinking that they're "stupid"?
They're safer than traffic lights and cheaper as well. Worth a try, they seem to work fine everywhere else.

[Frank]

quote:

---

Originally posted by PaulW

What do you have against roundabouts, except for thinking that they're "stupid"?
They're safer than traffic lights and cheaper as well. Worth a try, they seem to work fine everywhere else.

---

paul....u feel ok?

[PaulW]

I'm fine, thanks for asking.
What do people have against roundabouts? Too safe? Too cheap?
You like sitting at a red light at night when there's no other traffic?

[PaulW]

Wouldn't a tunnel be a problem in lava? It would also give the people-against-change a reason to protest on the basis of disturbing possible grave sites.

Anyway, as I understand it, the roundabout is coming.

[malolo]

Paul? Hi there. My problem with the Pahoa-roundabout-proposal isn't necessarily with roundabouts in general ...I've successfully negotiated the ins and outs elsewhere ...including Australia and New Zealand. My opposition stems from the fact that a roundabout would NOT be a wise/safe choice in the vicinity of those particular intersections.

If The Big Island is going to experiment with roundabouts, why not somewhere safer first?

I don't worry about making the adjustment myself.

I don't even worry that much about you.

There are indeed a few cautious/considerate drivers on the island.

My worry is the fact that the cautious/considerate among us are far outnumbered by the crazy/ lost/ distracted/ speeding/ impaired/ texting/ sleepy drivers on the Big Island ...who can't even seem to stay on their own side of the center-line ...on a straightaway.

[punafish]

As someone who used to make a living at driving change in companies, I can tell you that humans naturally resist change-especially when it's perceived as forced change. Conversely, people have no trouble accepting change if it's their own idea. (Ex: "Gee, I think I'll move from Chicago to Hawaii.") Education and participation can reduce resistance to change somewhat, but there will always be the resisters with no improvement ideas or alternatives to offer; they just like to hear themselves say "it sucks!" It's their right to say so, but it's not productive.

Not saying a roundabout is the end-all but we have to try something different. I predict it will create many accidents in the short term, hopefully not lethal. But in the long-term, after local drivers get used to it, I think it'll be a big improvement to what we have now. But hey, we won't know until we try it. In the end, the stats will tell the story. Anything beats what we have now.