Mini-roundabouts still confusing Sundre drivers months after being installed

Three mini-roundabouts designed to improve pedestrian safety and traffic flow in Sundre, Alta., are still confusing and frustrating drivers in the town just over an hour northwest of Calgary.

It's the first time mini-roundabouts have ever been used on a provincial highway in Alberta. They were installed in October 2017 on a year-long trial basis, but have proved to be an ongoing source of confusion and frustration for many drivers.

"They're definitely controversial," said resident Charlene Seigfried. "I notice people tend to not yield on the main street when you're coming off a side street. So there needs to be some more education on that.

"I think it probably would have been just as good to put in another light to slow people down. People understand lights."

The raised modular, plastic sections are bolted to the ground and allow traffic to drive over them as well as around them, working to slow traffic down while accommodating the type of large industrial traffic Sundre sees on a daily basis, including trucks and transporters.

The three roundabouts run through Sundre's downtown along Highway 27 — from west of the Fourth Street intersection to east of the Centre Street intersection — for just under one kilometre.

"I don't like them. They're more trouble than they're worth," said Burt Gillings, who says snow removal has been an issue over the winter, forcing crews to clean off the roundabouts by hand rather than using a plow.

Near-misses common

"People don't have a clue what they mean, what they're about and people generally aren't interested in learning," said Gillings.

Many say they've even witnessed or experienced near-misses themselves as drivers try — and fail — to navigate them correctly.

"Sometimes it's scary because I think people don't know what to do in them. Nobody knows who's first and I've seen a few scary situations, near misses," said Tracey Leddle.

"If I wasn't cautious I'd have been nailed twice," said John Dercach, who says he's pretty sure he knows how to use them now. "I think some people who don't live in town, they're out in the country and just not used to change."

The roundabout project was driven entirely by concerns from the town's residents about downtown sidewalks being way too close to fast moving traffic. The new layout takes the road down to two lanes from four and leaves a bigger buffer zone between vehicles and people. 

A few residents say things have improved for pedestrians since they were installed.

"It's doing it's job to slow down the traffic," said Vana Paradis, who has lived in Sundre for more than 30 years. "I think everybody's going to get used to it. More people are willing to walk around town now and they're not feeling that fear of the traffic on their hips now. I think it's great."

Feedback being gathered

Open houses and information packages from the Town of Sundre and Alberta Transportation have included educational information and diagrams explaining how to use mini-roundabouts, including rules for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, with more feedback from an online survey being looked at this week.

"We don't want to put something in that people absolutely hate, where people just can't drive the roundabouts for whatever reason," said Stuart Richardson with Alberta Transportation.

"Sundre doesn't have roundabouts and this is new to a rural area like this. Calgary and Edmonton have many but there are none on a provincial highway, so we want to make sure people have the chance to give feedback and make their opinions felt.

"We want to know what we can do to fix the problems."

Richardson says the raised, modular mini roundabouts like Sundre's could end up being used in other communities in Alberta, if more people in Sundre warm to them.

The town and province will now take a look at the feedback they've gathered in the online survey that ended this week and see what changes can be made to improve the project. 

There's no decision yet whether the roundabouts will become a permanent fixture.

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