SEQUIM — The city should bring in a qualified traffic expert to dispel fears about traffic circles, or “roundabouts,” which could increasingly become part of its landscape as development accelerates.
That’s the opinion of Mayor Walt Schubert, who told the City Council this week that he wants to set up a pair of public information meetings in which concerned citizens can ask questions of an independent traffic expert to learn more about the circular barriers that slow motorists without stopping them at intersections as a form of traffic control.
“I just think we need to be proactive about this, or it’ll come back to haunt us later,” Schubert told Peninsula Daily News.
Schubert said the memory of a road-improvement project on South Sequim Avenue in 2002 resulted in “misunderstandings” that fueled anger among citizens and left city staff and council members scrambling in defense.
“To me, if we’d addressed it up front, we could have knocked down a big part of that (criticism),” he said.
Schubert’s concerns center around the Washington Street-River Road roundabout under construction in front of the Wal-Mart “supercenter,” being built on the city’s west side.
