1. 

   Sunset Hill David
   

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   I've been walking past the island on NW 58th and 17th Ave NW just north of the post office. Last weekend a vehicle took it out. Tire tracks are right down the middle and they ran over the metal sign that was anchored by concrete. What kind of person would do this, and wouldn't it destroy almost any vehicle? You would think. Maybe we shouldn't just be banning assault rifles, but suburban assault vehicles, too?

   I also feel really bad for the poor women who spent most of the summer planting and cultivating that island.

   Posted 4 months ago #
2. 

   BuffaloHawk
   

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   I bet it was a Suburu with an OAC sticker on it;)

   Posted 4 months ago #
3. 

   teigyr
   

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   I don't get it. There's one up the street from us that has a sign that keeps getting knocked down because people run over it. There's one down the street that has plants in the middle and there are always tire tracks through them. This city is very confused because the drivers I see are the ones that go under the speed limit in the fast lane or can't make up their mind at a four way stop (oh please, YOU go first). The crazy traffic circle destroyers must come out at night or something.

   Posted 4 months ago #
4. 

   Cheese
   

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   "The crazy traffic circle destroyers must come out at night or something."

   It's amazing what you don't see when you are drunk. Or else it was eDog while he was changing his playlist.

   Posted 4 months ago #
5. 

   Apple
   

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   "The crazy traffic circle destroyers must come out at night or something." Early morning actually. I have seen it. Got up to go fishing at 4:00 a couple of years ago. Saw a guy stuck with his two front wheels in a traffic circle. He was getting cuffed by a couple of SPD.

   My solution would be to put a large boulder into the center of the circle as part of the landscaping. Any car that hits it is destroyed at least.

   Posted 4 months ago #
6. 

   teigyr
   

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   We actually had the boulder idea!!! I would love that. I actually do drive in the early morning hours of 3am-4am. I haven't seen too many bad drivers but I've seen tons of prostitutes and what appear to be fine upstanding young men standing around various side streets. It's amazing what goes on when most people are sleeping. The upstanding young men don't seem to be going to any sort of job or bus or anything nor are they doing much beyond just standing there. Seems a bit cold for that, esp lately.

   Posted 4 months ago #
7. 

   ynh98107
   

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   "Alcohol is hell of a drug!"

   I love the boulder idea, like the folks on the corner of NW 3rd and 80th NW did few years back.

   Posted 4 months ago #
8. 

   bambooboy
   

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   if it was me I would bury a 3 ft steel I-beam with about 8 maybe 10 inches sticking up, then cover it with a small bush. since it's not supposed to be driven over, nobody could say it's a traffic hazard, and any car that drove over that at any kind of speed (you know the kind of speed that alcohol improves upon )would suffer serious damage to the vehicle.

   Posted 4 months ago #
9. 

   iPlod
   

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   I like the way you think, bambooboy.

   Posted 4 months ago #
10. 

    brown_eyes
    

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    You should always include several large, ragged, landscaping rocks in any traffic circle. Wooden posts are too gentle.

    Posted 4 months ago #
11. 

    SmartsyArtsy
    

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    We had our circle plowed over a couple of summers ago. He hit, the rode on the 2 right wheels and bashed into a parked car, then sped up to 65th there had been a too-tall tree on the circle which he adjusted by taking half the height done.

    Posted 4 months ago #
12. 

    Sunset Hill David
    

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    The traffic circle I was talking about has been repaired.

    Posted 4 months ago #
13. 

    LY
    

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    I miss the clocks.

    Posted 4 months ago #
14. 

    JM
    

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    What do you expect after promoting boozing in Ballard?

    Posted 4 months ago #
15. 

    great idea
    

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    boulders in the traffic circle are a bone-headed idea.

    drivers could be injured or killed with such a solution.

    here's one where they replaced a few boulders with fake ones after that very thing occurred:

    http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/erie/fake-boulders-now-at-deadly-scene

    Posted 4 months ago #
16. 

    bambooboy
    

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    Excuse me but a driver could only be killed of injured (while driving over a traffic circle) if they did it at speed, and that's the whole point of the traffic circle that you are not supposed to be going fast on those streets in the first place! You get killed or injured driving over a circle you are IMO just trying to join the Darwin club.
    Boulders are quite common and a great way to prevent this.

    Posted 4 months ago #
17. 

    Cate
    

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    The death penalty seems a little extreme for driving over a traffic circle.

    Posted 4 months ago #
18. 

    MidWest
    

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    The clocks are definitely missed...

    Posted 4 months ago #
19. 

    great idea
    

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    what clocks are you guys referring to?

    it would be neat if each traffic island were designed as a sundial.

    Posted 4 months ago #
20. 

    phoo
    

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    Bambooboy, you are devious! Consider yourself recruited to be on my sniper team in Fremont. We'll shoot tranqs at the drunks before they can get into their car and drive home. Perhaps downtown Ballard needs a team as well. Unfortunately, the law (and chemistry) spoils all my fun.

    Posted 4 months ago #
21. 

    bambooboy
    

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    "The death penalty seems a little extreme for driving over a traffic circle." Cate - I never advocated that but really there is absolutely no condition where you can drive fast with traffic circles in place safely. If you do you endanger everything and everyone around you. Simple solution, don't drive over the traffic circle. Boulders are an obvious deterrent, they are large and quite easy to see.

    What you say? What if they can't see the boulders? Like because they are going so fast they don't have time to look, or they are driving with there headlights off?
    OK, you win, yes, death penalty for driving over traffic circles is a fair compromise. I have no problem with that, again they voted for the Darwin award with their own foot, nobody forced them to do something stupid, unless you want to blame soft drink manufacturers.

    Again, Cate - You could ONLY get hurt if you drove over or into a boulder (as described) at high speed. Any normal driving over the boulder would only result in a fair amount of damage to your vehicle. I'm sure you are not against that.

    Posted 4 months ago #
22. 

    great idea
    

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    boulders aren't always that easy to see.

    a tall visual cue just seems like a more appropriate measure.

    Posted 4 months ago #
23. 

    bambooboy
    

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    OK, boulders plus a sign. I've seen lots of those and I have no problem with that. Among other things it gives drives something to aim at.
    Oh, and again, if you are going at an appropriate speed, I disagree, boulders are more than easy to see if you are only doing a few miles an hour, which is about the speed you should negotiate the circles at anyway.

    Posted 4 months ago #
24. 

    MidWest
    

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    "what clocks are you guys referring to?"

    There were clocks in the tree at 61st and 17th for a while.

    We called it the Flavor Flav Tree.

    Edit: (tree in the traffic circle at 61st and 17th)

    Posted 4 months ago #
25. 

    Cate
    

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    Yeah BBB, it is the ultimate Darwin Award but I hate to see young stupid kids killed off before they have had a chance to gain a little maturity. If Darwin awards were fairly applied few adolescents would make it to adulthood. (See, there was this long curvy hill. I liked to get on the top, take my foot off the brake and see how far I could go before I would panic and hit the brakes. Couple classmates died doing this little stunt. Most of my high school should have died if the Darwin awards were given out routinely.) I like to give teenagers a chance to survive their stupidity.

    Posted 4 months ago #
26. 

    brown_eyes
    

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    That was a huge roundabout with 16 huge rocks in it. The guy must have been travelling extremely fast to have knocked the them over. I assume it would have been at least as tragic if he had gone through the roundabout unimpeded and crashed into some unsuspecting driver on the other side, killing them both. Should we remove all stone or concrete barriers because out of control drivers might hit them and die? I personally prefer speed bumps to roundabouts on our residential streets as they are simpler and more effective, but for some reason they don't do them.

    Posted 4 months ago #
27. 

    great idea
    

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    Cate--when I was a teen I worked a shift that kept me out late occasionally (after midnight).

    sometimes I'd get sleepy at the wheel and have to open the windows and crank the radio to stay awake.

    the notion of falling asleep also made me wonder about the human capacity of driving with your eyes closed. I would sometimes close my eyes for 10 seconds or more while driving down the highway at midnight (sometimes much longer), just to test this theory.

    yet I live to tell of this stupidity. good thing there were no boulders in the road :)

    Posted 4 months ago #
28. 

    bambooboy
    

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    I don't know Cate, at some point you have to just live and learn. I did my fair share of really stupid things. I'm alive and sometimes wonder how.
    As bad as it sounds if more kids realized that they were really truly responsible for their actions, they would be a lot better off, and a lot less dumb things would be happening. I don't believe in coddling.

    Posted 4 months ago #
29. 

    VeganBiker
    

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    Here is the thing, if you are stupid or impaired enough to drive over a traffic calming device (known as roundabouts in other countries) then what happens, happens. If there is just earth and plants then you leave destroyed plans and tire marks but if there are rocks or steel spikes/pillars then your vehicle might get damaged. I seriously doubt that any vehicle on the road today would end up in a human injury situation by hitting a "calming circle" with rocks or steel spikes/pillars in it unless they were going very, very fast on a 25 mph street and if they were then?
    And bambooboy +1

    Posted 4 months ago #
30. 

    great idea
    

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    this just makes me think about those poor boys that were killed at the Taco Time sign down by the Locks.

    tragedies like that are inevitable sometimes, but you can't help but worry about your kids when they reach that "invincible" age.

    Posted 4 months ago #
31. 

    GAM
    

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    Don't forget to consider the possibility that the impaired driver could kill their passenger hitting this barrier.

    Now, if we could rig the sensors they use for those signs that flash if you're speeding and connect them to raise some of those "wrong way teeth" they use in garages to knock out the tires of any speeders - THAT might work without anyone getting killed.

    Posted 4 months ago #
32. 

    GAM
    

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    gi - I've been reflecting on that during this whole thread.

    Posted 4 months ago #
33. 

    kellydeen
    

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    Traffic Circles are "sponsored" by neighbors/residents. If a circle is not sponsored, the city can pave over the center of the circle. The sponsorship contract specifically states: The traffic circle is made up of a 2’ wide concrete ring w/reflectors. The concrete ring is less than four inches high next to the road so fire trucks or other large vehicles can drive over a portion of the traffic circle without harming the landscaping. Reflective object marker signs are to be placed by the city in the center of the traffic circle so that the traffic circle is more visible at night. One sIngle tree per circle, no plants larger than 24", and no hardscape (i.e. rocks, posts, etc.). The circle I sponsor on 61st & 17th has been taken out by drivers twice in the 2 years I have tended to it. Neighbors & the city have rallied every time to replace the trees and plants. As long as my efforts add something to the neighborhood and prevents an impaired driver from harming something or someone irreplaceable, I will keep tending to it . . .

    Posted 4 months ago #
34. 

    pennygirl
    

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    This has to be the stupidest thing ever on this site. Learn to drive. Are people actually advocating 'soft' traffic circles so that someone doesn't get hurt? Drive on the damn road!

    Posted 4 months ago #
35. 

    Ernie
    

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    This has to be the stupidest thing ever on this site

    LOL. Not by a long shot.

    Posted 4 months ago #
36. 

    pennygirl
    

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    How about the most non-sensible?

    Again:

    Learn to drive. Are people actually advocating 'soft' traffic circles so that someone doesn't get hurt? Drive on the damn road!

    The person who makes sense? Vegan. As usual :-)

    Posted 4 months ago #
37. 

    Cate
    

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    +1 kellydeen - and thank you.

    Posted 4 months ago #
38. 

    pennygirl
    

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    You have a traffic circle near you Cate? I have one two doors down from me.

    Posted 4 months ago #
39. 

    Cate
    

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    A block or two away. I just appreciate people like kellydean that take care of them for all of us.

    Posted 4 months ago #
40. 

    pennygirl
    

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    Believe it or not, most people who have a traffic circle nearby care for it Cate. I think the bigger issue is maybe the fact that people drive over them. Believe me, if you have actually tended to one a couple of boulders in the center are a good idea.

    Posted 4 months ago #
41. 

    treehugger
    

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    Fer cryin out loud, PG, give the Cate hate a rest. Despite what you think you don't have all the answers and reasonable minds can disagree

    Posted 4 months ago #
42. 

    pennygirl
    

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    You saw the can't relate a story when it relates to Cate's work treehugger? Why don't you go there and give BH a little love.

    Posted 4 months ago #
43. 

    pennygirl
    

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    For what it's worth I don't hate Cate. I don't hate anyone. I just think that she lives in a fluffy world and her fangs come out when anyone challenges said world.

    Posted 4 months ago #
44. 

    treehugger
    

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    I did see that thread, PG, which is why I poked at you here for jumping on her pretty much no matter what she says. When I think of you, PG, which thankfully is not often, the word sanctimonious usually comes to mind.

    Posted 4 months ago #
45. 

    pennygirl
    

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    I love large words. Thank you treehugger. When I think of you, which has been never, I think nothing.

    Posted 4 months ago #
46. 

    GAM
    

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    I have to say, Cate's desire that dumb kids don't kill themselves as they wrap their cars around things doesn't strike me as terribly out of touch.

    Posted 4 months ago #
47. 

    pennygirl
    

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    Tell that to the parents of the kids who died a few years ago. Like I said earlier - learn to drive.

    Posted 4 months ago #
48. 

    jj
    

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    Instead of boulders why not put a barrel of smelly paint/water/something at the base. Then if someone drove over the circle in a fit of rage they would just end up with a huge splash of yellow smelly paint on their hood.

    Posted 4 months ago #
49. 

    JM
    

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    What happens in Ballard stays in Ballard.

    Posted 4 months ago #
50. 

    collingswood
    

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    Hey Bambooboy, I understand that you want the Death Penalty for driving over a traffic circle, but do you really want it also for the children of the driver who are in the back seat?

    Posted 4 months ago #
51. 

    Corvus
    

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    Since we can't embed broken shards of glass on top of our concrete walls and we can't install beds of upright nails on top of our fences, I rather doubt we will ever be able to install differential doom in our traffic circles and rightfully so.

    I have no doubt that most traffic circles are taken out by late night belligerents of all stripes. However, I can imagine a great many scenarios where some innocent and sober driver might have to swerve and accidentally run into or over a traffic circle. Should they really have their car destroyed or suffer injury?

    Sure the plants are pretty and all, but I think a gentle curb and solid asphalt make more sense.

    Posted 4 months ago #
52. 

    pennygirl
    

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    Yes Corvus, but in the scenario you describe the innocent and sober driver won't be speeding. Therefore I would imagine the damage to be minimal if they are obeying the law regarding traffic circles.

    This honestly has to be the most passive aggressive thread on MB ever. So we create these traffic circles to encourage people to slow down in residential areas but if they happen to drive over them at gawd knows how many miles per hour it's ok? What is the point of having the damn things in the first place?

    For the third time - learn to drive and teach your kids how to drive (not you Corvus)

    Posted 4 months ago #
53. 

    bambooboy
    

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    "However, I can imagine a great many scenarios where some innocent and sober driver might have to swerve and accidentally run into or over a traffic circle."
    I cannot envision even ONE instance where someone driving a safe and prudent speed, would have to swerve and drive up onto a traffic island, not one, not at all. It's totally inconceivable to me.

    Posted 4 months ago #
54. 

    Corvus
    

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    Somebody opens a door just as you approach. Someone decides to not go around but cut the corner just as you approach. A ball or kid or pet runs into the intersection just as you approach. You apparently are too young to have seen much or you have no imagination or maybe both. Here is another which I don't have to imagine because I have seen it - Mayflower trailer can't make the corner, no way, no how, period.

    (not you Penny :)

    I know that probably the vast majority of the damage done to the plant is done by belligerents, but still we don't risk injury to the innocent just to harm those who deserve it. At least not with traffic circles.

    Posted 4 months ago #
55. 

    jburgh
    

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    Well, this is an interesting thread to read. I and a few neighbors adopted a traffic circle recently. We had to pay out of our own pockets for cutting a HUGE tree down that delayed fire responses on 2 recent occasions, and was the frequent object of school bus/branch collisions. Yet the city did not take any responsibility for recommending the inappropriately large tree that was initially planted, which BTW, also had electrical lines running between the branches. Turns out it was riddled with rot. So while I am bitter that it was such a big expense, at least a firetruck can get to my home in case we have a fire. The new plantings alone will cost in the neighborhood of $450.00, and the planting plan had to be approved prior to taking the old tree down. I think it will be beautiful when we are finished with the planting, but I am dreading the day when everything gets mowed over by a drunken driver.

    Posted 4 months ago #
56. 

    pennygirl
    

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    But you are driving slowly approaching said traffic circle so you have time to make a choice. Why does no-one other than a few here understand that it is the speed that you are driving at?

    Edit - oops.

    Posted 4 months ago #
57. 

    pennygirl
    

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    You need a boulder with a neon sign that says 'boulder - run over me at your own risk' jburgh :-)

    Posted 4 months ago #
58. 

    pennygirl
    

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    Anyway...

    I am sure this won't be hashed out here. Who knew that something as innocent as traffic circles could cause such a to-do.

    Posted 4 months ago #
59. 

    Corvus
    

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    Penny - I am not sure what the speed limit is. Perhaps it is 20 or even 15. Would that be reasonable? Do you drive 15? At 15, if you hit a steel post filled with concrete, or a boulder, you will do possibly several thousand dollars worth of damage. If you run over a shrub you might not do any.

    Ok so maybe if you are doing 15 or 20 then the chances of you actually hitting the traffic circle obstruction is drastically reduced, but it can and will happen. Do you drive 20 on all side streets?

    If there was some logical way to legitimize damaging obstructions in the middle of an intersection, the city would have already tried them and traffic circles would be three foot high impassable walls. I would think someone from Europe would know this.

    Posted 4 months ago #
60. 

    pennygirl
    

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    I walk Corvus. Therefore I probably shouldn't even be in this thread. Plus I am not a Citizen. That's another reason.

    Here is the thing and I think Vegan will back me up here. When you take your driving test in the UK you have to be able to drive around a roundabout correctly. Not a small one - a big old scary roundabout. Like one that leads onto a dual carriageway or motorway. So naturally, when you see one, big or small you slow down.

    And when people bleat about others getting hurt because they have driven over something that is there to prevent them from speeding I just find it rather silly. Aren't there a number of things (built out of cement or steel) on roads that are there to prevent a person from hurting others? What shall we complain about next?

    (Not you Corvus)

    Posted 4 months ago #

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