Traffic Circles

last updated 2007-03-27

AVOID FUTURE BIKE FUND RAIDS!
DEMAND COST-EFFECTIVE TRAFFIC CIRCLES!

Traffic Circle Update: City Council Action on Feb 10

adapted from the BFBC on-line news item of 18 Feb 2004

There was quite a bit of discussion about Linda Maio's item at the City Council meeting on Feb. 10. Her proposed resolution would have stopped construction of any new traffic circles until staff could develop cost-effective solutions. The council finally voted to request staff to develop further information on cost-effective traffic circles, and to do this by the meeting of Tuesday, Feb. 24. Here is a link to the Council action summary for the traffic circle item (scroll down to item 17).

Five of the higher-cost circles in the LeConte neighborhood may still be built, however, unless someone decides against this, which seems unlikely. Staff is now under tremendous pressure to provide the needed information on cost-effectiveness by next Tuesday, 24 Feb. BFBC leaders are attempting to assist in this effort as much as possible.

The bad news is that the city may set an unfortunate precedent by allowing traffic circles to be built in one well-organized neighborhood that are NOT cost-effective because that neighborhood successfully lobbied them to do so. The good news is that cost-effectiveness with regard to traffic calming is definitely on the City Council's radar screen, and it's likely that in the future the issue will be taken very seriously.

More cost-effective traffic circles means a greater likelihood that bicycle funds will not be "raided" to pay for expensive traffic circles. That's why we've been fighting this battle for so many months.

And now for the really great news: Many people responded to our action alerts and showed up at the City Council meeting on Feb. 10 to speak (I counted about a dozen). We significantly outnumbered any other group selected by the public comment lottery. BFBC members and supporters demonstrated that we are still highly committed to the City doing the right thing for bicyclists--and that we will turn out for meetings and speak up when it's important to do so.

To all of you who came to the Feb. 10 meeting--a tremendous thank you for your energy and commitment.

--Hank Resnik, BFBC Board of Directors

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Details and Background

The remainder of this web page contains earlier articles and letters pertaining to the traffic circle issue. They are ordered most recent first. You can jump directly to any item by clicking on it, or you can browse by scrolling down the page.

• Traffic Circle Funding on City Council Agenda for Tue 10 Feb, 8 February 2004
• Transportation Commission Meeting 15 Jan, 12 January 2004
• Victory for Lower-Cost Traffic Circles, 5 January 2004
• The Need for Cost-Effective Traffic Calming in Berkeley, 5 December 2003
• Web Links for Traffic Circle Costs, 5 December 2003
• Avoid Future Bike Fund Raids, 9 November 2003
• Preventing Another Raid on the Bike Fund, 4 November 2003

More background information on traffic circles in Berkeley:

• Neighborhood Reaction to Lower-Cost Traffic Circle at Santa Fe / Cornell / Page (Dave Campbell, November 2003).
• Photographs of several traffic circles in Berkeley (on the city web site, bike boulevard treatment page).
• Memo from Office of Transportation re traffic circle status and plans, September 2003 (Word format).
• Memo from Office of Transportation re traffic circle status and plans, November 2002 (Word format).

The city memos are in Microsoft Word format. We do not, unfortunately, have them in HTML format.

See details and history on the $140,000 Bike Fund raid in 2003.

Return to the main BFBC issues page.

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Traffic Circle Funding on City Council Agenda for Tue 10 Feb

BFBC On-Line Action Alert (from this web page, and sent to bfbc-news), 8 February 2004

Please come to the meeting or contact your city councilmember. We need you this Tuesday night (Feb 10) at the Berkeley City Council meeting, 7 p.m. at Old City Hall (MLK Jr. Way just north of Allston, 2nd floor).

Remember last summer's $140,000 raid on the Bike Fund? Well, it could happen again. Neighbors are now competing for increasingly scarce dollars to fund costly landscaped traffic circles. Councilmember Linda Maio has introduced a resolution requesting that all planned traffic circles be reviewed to ensure that their design is the most cost-efficient. Her resolution will give the Office of Transportation time to review traffic circle designs in an attempt to lower their cost. Reducing costs for each traffic circle means the City will have a lot more money (up to 3 times more) for additional circles--reducing the threat to the Bike Fund and ensuring a fairer process of distributing traffic circles throughout Berkeley.

If you can attend the meeting, you need to stay only for the public comment period--from about 7:15-8:00pm. Make sure to submit a speaker card to the clerk. Only 10 speakers are allowed, and they're selected by lottery. The more people there representing BFBC, the better. You don't need to speak if you don't want to. You can yield your turn to BFBC president Dave Campbell or board member Hank Resnik. Both will come prepared with brief speeches and handouts.

Please send an e-mail or fax as soon as possible. Here is a suggested message:

Points to make if you speak during public comment:

• I support Councilmember Maio's resolution calling for a more cost-effective approach to installing traffic circles: item #17 on tonight's agenda.
• If you pass this resolution, you will be supporting a responsible and fiscally sound approach to spending our scarce tax dollars.
• More cost-effective traffic circles in Berkeley will mean that more neighborhoods will have an opportunity for traffic calming.
• Berkeley has been spending too much on traffic circles--up to $25,000 per circle. This is far more than most other cities spend that have installed traffic circles. Please direct staff to study less expensive, more cost-effective alternatives that will be acceptable to all Berkeley residents.
• Councilmember Maio's resolution does not advocate cheap-looking traffic circles that will not be acceptable to neighbors. What it means is that staff will be directed to study better ways to spend the City's funds for this important transportation improvement.

Further information. Councilmember Maio's item includes two main parts: (1) Direct the City Manager to hold on the installation of any $25,000 traffic circles that have not yet begun construction. (2) Request that staff and the Transportation Commission select among the attractive but much less expensive circles that other cities have implemented, and make a proposal to Council on appropriate circle designs and how to best distribute the circles throughout the City based on need. Here are links to:

• Council agenda for Tue 10 February 2004 (scroll down to item 17)
• Councilmember Maio's recommendation (PDF)
• Transportation Commission recommendation (PDF)

What's the connection between expensive ($25,000 each) traffic circles and funding for bike improvements? It's simple: the more the City pays for traffic circles, the less there will be for either more circles (which BFBC favors) or other bike-related improvements.

BFBC does not oppose traffic circles; they help to calm traffic. What we do oppose is unnecessarily expensive traffic circles. Research by BFBC and City staff has shown that Berkeley is spending far too much on traffic circles (other cities have spent one-half to one-third what Berkeley spends). This accounts in part last summer's $140,000 "raid" on the bike fund to pay for $25,000 traffic circles--a battle we lost. We have to protect the City's scarce transportation dollars; more cost-effective traffic circles means more money for bike improvements and other transportation programs.

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Success at Transportation Commission last Thursday, Jan 15

from the BFBC On-Line Bulletin, 20 January 2004

The Transportation Commission voted to recommend to Council that city staff be directed to further study the cost of traffic circle construction, including investigating similar structures in other cities which are reported to cost much less than Berkeley's. Peter Hillier was present, and passed out a set of pictures of traffic circles, mostly like Berkeley's "deluxe" ($25,000!) model, which have been installed in some other West Coast cities. Reported costs for landscaped circles range from $12,500 (San Jose) to $3,500 (Portland). Hank Resnik and several other BFBC'ers, including yours truly, attended and spoke. Having several members there probably helped get decisive action, although it was also clear that staff had already seen the need and was preparing to take the obvious step of trying to determine why other towns seem to be able to build these things so much more economically than we can.

This is real progress on the traffic circle cost front, and we'll keep you posted.

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Transportation Commission Meeting, Jan 15, 2004

BFBC On-Line Action Alert (from this website), 12 January 2004

Your help is needed now! This Thursday evening, Jan 15, the Transportation Commission meets at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst St. at Martin Luther King Jr. Way. It will consider a recommendation to pursue an alternative and less expensive design for traffic circles. BFBC has played a key role in this decision. This may be the only way we can prevent another raid on the bike fund similar to the transfer of $140,000 that occurred last year.

Hank Resnik is organizing a contingent of cyclists and other supporters of responsible transportation spending in Berkeley to go to the meeting and speak on the issue. It's currently scheduled for 9:45 p.m. but will most likely be moved to 8:30 p.m., especially if many of us show up. At the meeting Hank will provide a handout with "talking points" stating our position and a suggested letter of support for that position.

He needs to know who will be there so we can try to have the item moved to 8:30 p.m. If you will be able to attend the meeting, please reply to him immediately by either e-mail or phone (510-524-4488). This will take about an hour of your time.

BACKGROUND

As you know if you read the latest issue of the BFBC newsletter just out, we have had a significant victory in our campaign to get the city to consider an alternative design for traffic circles. BFBC has taken the lead in arguing for less expensive circles than the deluxe version that has the potential to drain so much money from the City's increasingly threatened transportation funds. The Office of Transportation has expressed a willingness to consider alternatives, and so have some city councilmembers. The Transportation Commission has supported the concept of less expensive circles as well. But strong demand for "deluxe" circles from neighbors is also a consideration.

This has been a victory only in light of the overall grim situation we faced when Councilmember Mim Hawley succeeded in transferring $140,000 from the bike fund for the current fiscal year to pay for high-cost traffic circles (at about $25,000 each). The $140,000 is gone, that's bad for us, and there's no way to undo that decision.

If we can convince the City to develop much less expensive traffic circles (Seattle spends about $8,000 each), we will greatly increase the chances of avoiding another raid on the bike fund. Even more important, the entire city will benefit from the potential for three times as many traffic circles as would be available under the more expensive design.

Please take time on Thursday, Jan. 15, to attend the Transportation Commission meeting. Please let Hank Resnik (phone 510-524-4488) know if you can come.

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Victory for Lower-Cost Traffic Circles

from the BFBC Newsletter, Jan-Feb 2004, page 4

Looks like the BFBC campaign for lower-cost traffic circles has had an impact. Peter Hillier, Office of Transportation, announced at the December Transportation Commission meeting that there has been a renewed interest by Council in studying low-cost traffic circles. "I plan to bring some designs to the Transportation Commission in January and I expect this will kick-start the Traffic Calming Subcommittee," Hillier stated. "I hope the subcommittee can come up with recommendations for City Council approval for traffic circles nicer than the semi-permanent ones." Letters, emails and phone calls from concerned residents and cyclists have had an effect. It's good to know that the City Council is still listening.

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The Need for Cost-Effective Traffic Calming in Berkeley

letter to the Transportation Commission, December 12, 2003

DATE: 12/5/03
TO: Dean Metzger, Chair, Berkeley Transportation Commission
FROM: Hank Resnik, Co-chair, Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition
COPIES TO: City Council Members, Office of Transportation
SUBJECT: The need for cost-effective traffic calming in Berkeley

I and many others, including the board of directors of the Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition (BFBC) are very concerned about the $140,000 "raid" on the bike fund that essentially defunded bicycle improvements in Berkeley for the current budget year.

We realize that the City will increasingly face serious budget constraints. Our concern is about what some councilmembers have described as the insistence on the part of some neighbors that they receive only the very high-cost type of traffic circle that has been installed in the Elmwood and LeConte neighborhoods (average cost: $25,000 per circle). We are proposing that City staff be directed to investigate a reasonable compromise traffic circle design--one that will be attractive and acceptable to all neighborhoods.

We have reason to believe that this is not a far-fetched notion. I researched the cost of traffic circles in numerous cities across the U.S. where traffic calming is a priority. I found that in Seattle, where traffic circles are in wide use and have been very effective at calming traffic, the cost of each circle in 2002 averaged $8-10,000. As far as I know, no other city spends an average of $25,000 on traffic circles. Furthermore, designing more cost-effective traffic circles has already been recommended by the Transportation Commission--a recommendation that so far has been ignored.

I hope you will support renewed efforts on the part of the Transportation Commission to pursue what I and others believe is the only responsible approach to paying for traffic calming in Berkeley, specifically traffic circles.

Appended below is some recent information, including a variety of web links, that you may find helpful.

I hope you can place this topic on the next Transportation Commission agenda and pursue it vigorously. The implications for transportation budgeting in Berkeley are major. A more cost-effective circle could save the City significant amounts of money in funding a city-wide traffic calming program.

So far our efforts to get City councilmembers to address this issue have not been very productive. They are feeling tremendous pressures from neighborhoods to spend money on the more expensive circles. Unless someone stands up for a more responsible approach to the problem that looks seriously at the costs and tries to find effective compromises, the "pushy" neighbors will prevail, as they so often do in Berkeley. But that is extremely unfair to everyone else in the city who is experiencing the dangers of speeding traffic on local residential streets on a daily basis.

I look forward to your response and hope you will be willing to provide leadership on this issue.

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Web Links for Traffic Circle Costs

references provided with the preceding letter, December 12, 2003

Some circles in Seattle cost $3,000 - $6,000. Includes a photo of a landscaped circle:

http://www.usroads.com/journals/rmej/9801/rm980102.htm

Design criteria, with an emphasis on minimizing costs:

http://www.usroads.com/journals/rmej/9801/rm980103.htm

A focus on volunteers doing the landscaping:

http://www.cityofseattle.net/transportation/n091603a.htm

"Gardeners Take to the Streets!"--article from Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/130391_cgarden11.html

A traffic circle contest, which mentions neighbors applying for individual grants up to $500 to do the landscaping work:

http://www.seattlepress.com/article-9675.html

From the U.S. Conference of Mayors:

http://www.usmayors.org/uscm/uscm_projects_services/health/traffic/best_traffic_initiative_seattle.htm

Photos and graphics of a variety of traffic circles:

http://www.trafficcalming.org/toolbox/trafficcircle.html

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AVOID FUTURE BIKE FUND RAIDS!
ACT NOW -- MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!
DEMAND COST-EFFECTIVE TRAFFIC CIRCLES!

BFBC On-Line Action Alert (sent to bfbc-news), 9 November 2003

After months of back and forth, on October 14 Councilmember Miriam Hawley succeeded in transferring $140,000 out of the Bike Fund to be used for expensive traffic circles not on bike boulevards. Councilmember Kriss Worthington's compromise resolution failed. It would have designated the money for traffic circles on bike boulevards only. Because $30,000 of the bike fund is used for staff salaries, that leaves no City money for bike improvements in the current year.

The bike fund is the only item in the City budget that had money transferred from it for another purpose.

This was a betrayal of the City's commitment to promoting safe routes for bicycling.

We've been told this was a one-time-only transfer. If you believe that, we'd be happy to sell you a slightly used Bay Bridge.

BFBC is launching an all-out campaign to prevent another raid by DEMANDING more cost-effective traffic calming methods.

The City is currently planning to install fully landscaped traffic circles that cost $25,000 each. The $140,000 from the bike fund will pay for about 5 ½ of those circles. Yet already there are plans for nearly 50 circles--and a growing demand for more traffic circles from neighbors concerned about cars speeding and short-cutting through their residential streets. At $25,000 each, 50 circles would cost $1.2 million. The City doesn't have that money--and may not have it for years to come. We have no confidence there will not be more attempts to raid the $170,000/year bike fund to pay for traffic circles that are not on bike routes.

Why do the currently planned circles cost $25,000? Because some neighbors don't like the less expensive circles--for example, the prototype circle at Page and Santa Fe in West Berkeley. They want the same circles the Elmwood has--extremely expensive, lavish circles. BFBC has surveyed the cost of traffic circles in more than 12 other cities. Seattle, one of the leaders in developing traffic circles, spent an average of $8-10,000 on each of its circles in 2002.

Why can't Berkeley find a more cost-effective circle that will be acceptable to neighbors? One reason is that no one is asking the City Council or staff to look for a better and more cost-effective design that will still be acceptable to neighbors. The "squeaky wheels" are demanding unnecessarily expensive traffic circles. Never mind what's already been budgeted or in the City's plans for years. Plans get changed.

BFBC is now launching a new traffic circle campaign of its own. We believe it's unconscionable in these fiscally hard times not to look for a better and more cost-effective type of traffic circle. The Office of Transportation has indicated to us that they are willing to consider a different type of traffic circle design. But they won't do it unless the people to whom they are accountable insist on it.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
Send a letter or e-mail to the mayor and city council. Feel free to use the sample letter below. Better yet, adapt the letter to personalize it.

Please do it now. And please spread the word by sending this e-mail to friends and neighbors. The Mayor and City Council need to hear our voices loud and clear.

Send your letter as follows:

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City Council Testimony: Preventing Another Raid on the Bike Fund

Statement by Hank Resnik, BFBC co-chair, at City Council November 4, 2003

BFBC is extremely disappointed that at its Oct. 14 meeting the City Council voted to transfer $140,000 from the bike fund for traffic circles that are not on bike routes:

• It was a broken promise and a betrayal of the City's commitment to promoting safe routes for bicycling.
• The bike fund is the only item in the City budget that had money transferred from it for another purpose.
• We've been told this was a one-time-only transfer. We are profoundly skeptical about that.
• The City is currently planning to install fully landscaped traffic circles that cost $25,000 each. The $140,000 from the bike fund will pay for about 5 ½ of those circles. Yet already there are plans for nearly 50 circles--and a growing demand for more traffic circles from neighbors concerned about cars speeding and short-cutting through their residential streets.
• At $25,000 each, 50 circles would cost $1.2 million. The City doesn't have that money--and may not have it for years to come. We have no confidence there will not be more attempts to raid the $170,000/year bike fund to pay for traffic circles that are not on bike routes.
• Why do the currently planned circles cost $25,000? Because some neighbors don't like the less expensive circles--for example, the prototype circle at Page and Santa Fe in West Berkeley. They want the same circles the Elmwood has--extremely expensive, lavish circles.
• BFBC has surveyed the cost of traffic circles in more than 12 other cities. Seattle, one of the leaders in developing traffic circles, spent an average of $8-10,000 on each of its circles in 2002.
• Why can't Berkeley find a more cost-effective circle that will be acceptable to neighbors?
• One reason is that no one is asking the Council or staff to look for a better and more cost-effective design that will still be acceptable to neighbors. No one is demanding that. The "squeaky wheels" are demanding unnecessarily expensive traffic circles. Never mind what's already been budgeted or in the City's plans for years. Plans get changed.
• BFBC is now launching a new traffic circle campaign of its own. We believe it's unconscionable in these fiscally hard times not to look for a better and more cost-effective type of traffic circle.
• You, as our representatives and the trustees of our tax dollars, owe it to everyone in Berkeley to insist on a cost-effective traffic circle design. And you owe it to the safety of bicyclists to insist that the bike plan be implemented in a fair and equitable manner.

The Office of Transportation has indicated to us that they are willing to consider a different type of traffic circle design. But they won't do it unless the people to whom they are accountable insist on it.

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