Redondo Beach Traffic circle divides N. Redondo neighbors Pilot program to be reviewed by City Council in six months
Rb traffic circle
A traffic circle at Plant Avenue and Blossom Lane is being studied as part of a pilot program to reduce the number of all-way stops in Redondo Beach. Photo
As two people spoke at the corner of Plant Avenue and Blossom Lane in North Redondo Beach, a woman in a white minivan approached the intersection’s newly-installed traffic circle.
“Do you guys like this thing? I hate it. All it needs are two stop signs and a speed bump. That’s what I think,” she said, before rounding the circle and driving off.
Neighbor David Engle agrees.
“There’s virtually no traffic here. It’s all on Robinson Street,” Engle said. “This is just a little side-street.”
Other neighbors, who had been asking the city for stop signs at the previously uncontrolled intersection, like the traffic circle.
“It’s slowing people down to the point where it’s making people think ‘Okay, slow down and check my surroundings,’” neighbor Tanya Hill said.
In August 2016, the council approved a pilot program for one traffic circle in each of the five council districts. The Blossom and Plant traffic circle is the first of these. It was installed at the District 5, three-way intersection on August. 2.
Federal Highway Administration studies found that roundabouts are safer than all-way stops because they eliminate right-angle and left-turn crashes.
The pilot project is scheduled for review by the council in six months. But Engle doesn’t want to wait that long.
“If you go to sleep, the government will take over. That’s just their job,” Engle said. “I can’t slight them too much. What they’re trying to do is slow traffic down. But I don’t think this intersection was a problem, to begin with.”
District 5 Councilwoman Laura Emdee said the circles are a way to reduce the area’s high number of stop signs.
“People are already upset that there are so many stop signs. Drivers end up rolling through, treating them more like a yield sign,” Emdee said. “And enforcement is difficult when there are so many signs to patrol.”
“Let’s try it. If it works, great. If not, we can try a different intersection or let go of it all together,” Emdee said. “That’s the point of a pilot program.”
She asked that residents submit their opinions to the city’s engineering department.