Fredmeyer Complaint Dept

Circular sublimity in Salmon Creek

Confronting danger with confidence and aggression is a hallmark of modern journalism. Such was my valor Thursday as I approached the Salmon Creek traffic roundabout that had opened the day before. As I drove closer, the air became filled with blood-curdling screams, the sounds of crunching metal, sirens and public mayhem. Then I discovered my car radio was on the wrong station.

As I drove into the new intersection at Northeast 10th Avenue and Northeast 136th Street (behind the Fred Meyer store), it occurred to me why many people detest roundabouts, which are becoming more prevalent in America. These people simply cannot stand the thought of yielding … to anyone or anything. They don’t mind stopping at a red light and idling for 60 seconds in the middle of the night at a deserted intersection. But yield? They’d sooner be waterboarded!

The new Salmon Creek roundabout surely will be showered with the same contempt that is heaped upon other roundabouts by people who simply don’t know what they’re talking about, insist they know more than the experts and intuitively resist all change in their lives.

Count me out of that crowd. On Thursday, this intrepid columnist drove into the Salmon Creek roundabout, then drove out of it and lived to write about it. In fact, I actually enjoyed the free-flowing circular sublimity.

Some complaints about roundabouts are flat illogical. For example, yes, large trucks have difficulty negotiating roundabouts. And, yes, those large tire tracks over and inside the inner curbs prove this point.

I’ve heard the same complaint about trucks and roundabouts in Woodland, where two roundabouts were built near the new Walmart and a third is under construction. But as explained by Clark County Public Works spokesman Jeff Mize: “People have a mistaken impression that trucks are not making it through the roundabout because (the trucks are driving) on the curb. But that is precisely what that raised island is there for.” It’s called a truck apron, and as reported in a recent Columbian story, the state Department of Transportation intentionally designs roundabouts in such a way. A truck’s large back wheels can ride up on the apron, but the curb is high enough to discourage use by smaller vehicles.

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