There is a rumor floating around town about a roundabout going in at 10th and Ustick. One of our good people at Caldwell City Hall has asked THE GUARDIAN to help quash this rumor. City Engineering and Streets just put in a very nice signalized intersection at 10th and Ustick and have no plans in the near or distant future to put a roundabout at this intersection.
Additionally, we would offer to our good readers there are finite limits ( nice word for maximums) to the amounts of vehicles a roundabout can handle and the traffic projections for 10th and Ustick are way above the inherent limits of a roundabout. Depending on which guru you subscribe to the limits of a roundabout is in the neighborhood of 20k-25k vehicles per day.
We know there are several other intersections getting consideration for roundabouts like Florida and Ustick and perhaps Indiana and Ustick but at this point it all exists as a wish list by City Engineering and Streets. Caldwell is out of money with the fact they are up against the TAX CAP imposed by the state legislature on property taxation. You can look forward to other means of increasing revenue to the city via increases in enterprise funds like we just had with water, sewer and trash rate increases.
Roundabouts are "Great". All we have to do is get all of our city and county politicians driving around on them, block the exits and our troubles will be over.
ReplyDeletegood I hate round abouts!
ReplyDeleteBrent Orton, City Engineer says..
ReplyDeleteOn Thu, Oct 20, 2011 at 8:19 AM, Brent Orton wrote:
Thanks Paul! As a point of interest, the capacity of a roundabout will vary, as you might expect, between a double and a single lane roundabout.
You are correct that Florida, Indian, and also Lake are being analyzed to consider the viability of roundabouts. The effort for those intersections will also include a comparison between roundabouts and signals.
Stay tuned! J
On the revenue question, the water, sewer, and garbage rates were raised (as you know). Since these are enterprise funds though, they can only be used within their respective departments. For instance, when you see the water department helping work on another project, like helping install a sewer line, the Sewer Department pays for their labor time.
Have a great day Paul!
Brent
Why does Caldwell always want to copy Nampa and do what Nampa has done? Are the Caldwell politicians and bureaucrats just doing a me to? Must be, they sure as heck are not worried about or thinking of the beleaguered taxpayer!
ReplyDeleteRoundabouts are just plain dumb and expensive. A new one on Emmett Road at the new Middleton High School has an exit going to a wheat field!
What a waste of hard earned taxpayer money!