All about them roundabouts

The average American wastes about one week a year sitting in traffic, so says the Commercial Carrier Journal. They put a dollar figure on it of about $771 annually, but since it's a week sitting in the car going nowhere, I guess it depends on how much you make a week, doesn't it? If I spend a 40-hour week sitting in unnecessary traffic jams, I would probably eat close to that in gas, let alone the lost productivity. I don't think about this particular economic cost to mankind often, as we all just kind of accept traffic with a grrr, but it came to mind again when I made my usual drive down to Auburn on Highway 49 and hit an atypical traffic jam about halfway down a few months past. After 10 minutes of creeping along, I came upon the reason for the jam-up, and it was a new roundabout. It had a weird jig and a jag into this odd circle of lines and the other cars maneuvered as tenderly as I did trying to avoid hitting someone else during the exercise. No doubt all of us were trying to comprehend how this thing was laid out, seeing it for the first time and all. No sooner than we popped out of the thing, a little further down the road another new roundabout appeared and caused about the same confusion as the first one. I use the word roundabout loosely here. It was more of a what's-this-thing-about? Actually, both were odd. I didn't recall any big intersecting side roads that would necessitate either new roundabout. Maybe I don't know the area well enough, but I do drive the route on occasion and don't recall any big clusters happening anywhere near these areas in previous trips down 49 that would require traffic mediation when it comes to needing a roundabout. I am sure some of you know whence of where I speak when it comes to these two roundabouts, and it got me thinking of how these things are engineered. Speaking with other drivers who have gone through these two clusters brought them to the same conclusion I did: Who the heck engineered this thing, and if it was a school project, he or she probably would have received an F if the grade was arrived at by popular demand. Frankly, roundabouts are supposed to make things smoother and only be installed where they are needed. When it came to these two labyrinths, I saw nothing of the sort. What once was a smooth-sailing trip is now a traffic headache that eventually, and to this day, makes me take Interstate 80 instead. My new route saves me about 20 minutes from what it took me going down 49 after the roundabouts were installed. It reminded me of the roundabout that was installed in Grass Valley where Ridge Road, Zion Street and Nevada City Highway come together. Although not nearly the mazes the two Highway 49 roundabouts are, it's still a jumbled mess. One has to wonder if these two designers went to the same school or sit back imbibing the same elixirs when coming up with these things. Ah, but all is not lost when remembering the frustrations of the time spent and accidents had on bad highway designs like these roundabouts. Take the roundabout at East Main and Idaho-Maryland, which also has a third leg handling a Highway 20/49 off-ramp. The designer ought to be given an award, as that is a breeze to navigate and a well-designed and simple roundabout that works like it should. Sometimes, simplicity beats out complexity when it comes to handling people and their cars. In conclusion, while we all breeze through the Idaho-Maryland/East Main roundabout, pity those drivers stuck in the new Highway 49 concrete whirlpools or new to the Zion Street roundabout trying to figure out which arm goes where to remain accident free. Considering the enhanced risk, lost time and wasted gas that goes into these badly designed Frankenbouts, and how long these concrete monstrosities will be used by motorists, it might be better just to bite the bullet, tear them down and redo them. And when you redo them, hunt down the guy or woman that did the East Main beauty, and give a broom to the other two. This article expresses the opinion of Marc Cuniberti and is not meant as investment advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities, nor represents the opinion of any bank, investment firm or RIA, nor this media outlet, its staff, members or underwriters. Mr. Cuniberti holds a BA in Economics with honors, 1979, and California Insurance License #0L34249 His insurance agency is BAP INC. insurance services. Email: news@moneymanagementradio.com