Elk Grove City Council Approves Major Rural Area Traffic Roundabout



March 10, 2016 |

In what may become a common roadway feature in their rural area, the Elk Grove City Council unanimously approved a major traffic roundabout during regular meeting last night.

The new traffic roundabout will be built at the intersection of Sheldon Road and Bradshaw Road in the city's Sheldon area. Although the roundabout is in Elk Grove's rural area, both roads are heavily used by daily commuters.

During public testimony, several Sheldon area residents spoke and offered a variety of views of the roundabout. Several people were against the roundabouts noting the heavy traffic is only for a few hours a day and their development would damage the rural characteristics of the Sheldon area. 

Among those who spoke for the roundabouts was Sheldon Road resident Leo Fassler. Noting his experiences using that type of roadway in mostly rural New Zealand, Fassler stressed their safety features, and there are no intersection fatalities.

"It works very effectively," he said. "They have no [intersection] accidents over their either."

Another option to accommodate the heavy traffic flowing through the Sheldon area presented to the council was the installation of traffic lights. Although traffic lights were more economical than roundabouts, the council said they felt the roundabouts would be beneficial from a safety perspective and for maintaining the rural characteristics of the area.    

Councilman Steve Detrick noted the concerns expressed by some Sheldon area residents but said he felt the roundabouts are the best option to help traffic flow and improve safety.

"I'm impressed with the safety results," Detrick said. "I think the traffic calming is huge."

The council also expressed their desire to have much of the construction take place while school is not in session to minimize the effects on traffic. 

Although the concept was approved, there will be further design review before construction starts next year. According to the staff report, the project is expected to take about 18 months to complete and will cost about $8 million of which $2.7 million will be funded by the city.  












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8 comments

Anonymous said...

Overlooked throughout much of the discussion was the roundabout offered a level of service (LOS) B while the stop light was LOS C. Does anybody else hate waiting at red lights to turn left when few other vehicles are oncoming? With a roundabout your left turn takes About 8 seconds.

Anonymous said...

Should have put in a light. Cars regularly miss the round abouts on Elk Grove Blvd and drive through strict through the landscaped median or enter at too high a speed and crash into the light poles, trees, ect. EGB is a 35 MPH zone. Bradshaw is a 55 MPH zone and Sheldon is 45 MPH. I predict a sharp increase in injury accidents AND at least one fatal accident in the first 12 months of it opening. I hope I'm wrong.

Ice rink said...

To anon 15:10, no worries about people not seeing it. Just put a huge electronic wayfinding sign with a plastic elk in it!

Anonymous said...

If I am not mistaken, didn't Kevin Spease try to make this an issue when he launched his campaign a few weeks ago? You can 86 that one I guess.

Anonymous said...

It's interesting that Mayoral Candidate Kevin Spease nor his dad were present at the public hearing. Previously Mr. Spease's dad was adamant he'd do everything in his power to prevent the roundabout as it takes a chunk of his land at the intersection. Then the younger Spease made this a campaign issue during his mayoral candidacy announcement. After this announcement he was called out by commentators on EGN about the ethical issues of a candidate participating in discussions regarding a project in which he may have a financial interest. Although I've seen nothing official from the Spease campaign clearly they are reading this blog and the comments made by concerned citizens.

Anonymous said...

What people are forgetting is that nothing is done deal until they break ground on a capital project. The Elk Grove City Council, at any time, can ask for an agenda item to be brought back, rescinded, and we start all over again. All it takes is three votes.

If the makeup on the council changes, all bets could be off regarding the roundabouts. Don't think for one minute that Kevin Spease doesn't know that.

Anonymous said...

From where I sit, Spease can still make roundabouts a significant campaign issue because he can now claim he will save the taxpayers over two million dollars per roundabout when all that is needed are signal lights. (The city council is planning three roundabouts.) That six million dollars could go a long way towards road maintenance, a Senior Center and Veteran’s Hall!

Pretty good platform if you ask me.

Anonymous said...

Anon 16:00 ~ The Bradshaw/Sheldon roundabout will cost $1.8M more mostly because of the creek running under the intersection. The other roundabouts will not cost significantly more than stop lights.

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