Sometimes, in traffic at least, it’s not a bad thing to be going around in circles.
The province announced yesterday that a new roundabout is being built at the intersection of County Road 1 and Highway 62.
It’s expected to reduce collisions, force people to decrease their speed and make for easier entrances and exits for many vehicles.
Of course, we already have one very high-profile roundabout in Prince Edward County, with others popping up near CFB Trenton and in Thurlow at Farnham and Mailtland.
As effective as roundabouts are, I have often been critical of where they should be used, though not in this case.
The ground is relatively level at 62 and County Road 1, there is a big different between north-south and east-west traffic volume and speed, and sight lines are an issue.
That makes it a relatively perfect location for a roundabout, instead of putting it at the bottom (or top) of a hill, for example.
Roundabouts are excellent ways to force people to slow down with minimal disruptions once they learn the new rules of that particular stretch of road.
At the very least, they are much less controversial and visually distracting than speed cameras, speed humps, or slalom poles.
I’m Paul Martin and that’s what I see looking Beyond the Headlines.
