Monday, July 6, 2015

I Came, I Saw, I Circled

I just had to see for myself.

Penndot just had a contractor install a traffic roundabout at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport.  Penndot stresses it's a roundabout, not a traffic circle.

Opening reviews are absolutely horrible, so I decided to leave for work extra early, on a morning last week, and check it out.

They were right.

It's counter intuitive and it just doesn't make sense.  On top of that, it's not going to be the only roundabout at that interchange.

As I noted earlier, it was a fine interchange.  The only issues were short acceleration and deceleration ramps at Interstate 81.  They were fixable without throwing the driving public into a tizzy. 

Credit where credit is due:  part of the project involves extending Navy Way into the industrial park, a great idea that should have been done years ago.

It's unfortunate that the powers that be took something that was working just fine, and turned it into something people hate.

Like anything else, it takes getting used to.  It would be nice to see a quick and easy learning curve, pardon the pun.