Staff Blogs
Sussex says no to roundabouts
Village of Sussex - The Village Board during an informal and unexpected roll call vote tonight rejected the idea of installing three roundabouts as part of the reconstruction of Main Street scheduled for 2015 or 2016.
'I am sure roundabouts have their place, but not in the Village of Sussex," said Village President Greg Goetz.
"The public is against roundabouts and as far as I am concerned they are off the table," added Trustee Jim Batzko.
An estimated 125 village residents showed up for the meeting that was a workshop style discussion between village trustees and their consultants regarding various alternatives for the reconstruction and resurfacing of a one mile segment of Main Street from Locust to Waukesha Avenues.
Included was a proposal to install three roundabouts which highway engineers said would move traffic more safely and efficiently through the village. But residents and business owners strongly opposed the roundabouts.
They argued roundabounts would speed traffic through the village, pose safety issues for pedesterians and bicyclists, particularly children, and could detract from the quaint, small town atmosphere of the village.
The consultants told the Village Board that more than 70 percent of the public comments about the roundabouts, expressed in writting at four public information session, were opposed to them.
Trustee Pat Tetzlaff said she had recently received 74 telephone calls regarding the roundabouts. She said 71 callers were opposed to the roundabouts,one supported them, and two callers indicated they might support a roundabout at one of the three proposed locations.
The board was not scheduled to make a decision at the meeting. However, as Goetz asked each trustee their opinion, it became clear the board uanimously opposed the roundabouts.
One village resident asked Goetz if he was going to take a formal roll call on the issue.
Goetz indicated it wasn't necessary.
'It is not an item on our agenda for tonight, but they are off the table," he said..
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18 Comments
go_brewers_go - May 15, 2012 8:53 PM
table."
The public is always against new things. In almost all cases, they work. I love them,
it keeps traffic moving. And study after study shows that injury accidents drastically
go down at intersections where they are installed.
beeper99 - May 15, 2012 8:58 PM
The state has been ruined by the placement of these roundabouts, increasing the
amount of property damage accidents all because one mans ego thinks he needs
to load up his paint brush and skip across the state putting in these magnets for
property damage accidents to the shear delight of the insurance companies, and
more over, the people who have to pay the premiums. The state needs to be
sued and hit with an order stop this asinine program. Their have been 28
Semi/auto collisions going through these death traps in northern Wisconsin
alone. Someone needs to resign, and someone needs to think about restoring
those intersections in the most cost effective way to correct this boondoggle.
beeper99 - May 15, 2012 8:59 PM
The state has been ruined by the placement of these roundabouts, increasing the
amount of property damage accidents all because one mans ego thinks he needs
to load up his paint brush and skip across the state putting in these magnets for
property damage accidents to the shear delight of the insurance companies, and
more over, the people who have to pay the premiums. The state needs to be
sued and hit with an order stop this asinine program. Their have been 28
Semi/auto collisions going through these death traps in northern Wisconsin
alone. Someone needs to resign, and someone needs to think about restoring
those intersections in the most cost effective way to correct this boondoggle.
chucknite - May 15, 2012 9:00 PM
NorthWoodsDreaming - May 15, 2012 9:12 PM
Banacek - May 15, 2012 9:49 PM
in writing, neither of you have much to hang your hat on.
SuperDave - May 15, 2012 10:13 PM
Town of Laker - May 15, 2012 10:34 PM
Atron - May 15, 2012 10:51 PM
AVMusicLover - May 16, 2012 7:39 AM
I live very near to the roundabouts on Moorland and I43 and pass thru almost daily. Unlike NorthwoodsDreaming, I believe there have been fewer accidents and most of the time traffic flows nice and smoothly. The only ones with issues are ones who do not know how to travel thru the roundabout and then that causes the problems to the rest of the drivers.
Kelemvor - May 16, 2012 8:47 AM
Roundabouts work great once people get used to them and figure out how to navigate them, but Sussex isn't that busy and doesn't need them anyway.
Weimtime - May 16, 2012 9:20 AM
However, if space is an issue, then I can agree with not implementing them. They do take up more space than a traffic light or stop sign.
Honestly, the most frustrating part of roundabouts are the people who don't know how to drive through them. You know these people...the ones that STOP instead of yield.
In short, in most cases roundabouts are the way to go, IMO, but if space is an issue, then I would go the "normal" route.
rodster8449 - May 16, 2012 9:49 AM
circles. They couldn't figure out how to get off of it.
Airbus - May 16, 2012 11:10 AM
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Europe is NOT getting rid of them. Where do you get your information from?
Have you even ever been over there? They work great IF people can understand how they work and navigate them PROPERLY.
Lindann - May 16, 2012 1:57 PM