Intro

Now, I didn't grow up in Europe, I didn't grow up in Asia, but my childhood was very "walkable". Walkability is a buzzword used in city planning. The meaning: it's easy to walk from your place of residence to: a grocery store, a restaurant, or shops. Plus, you're not car reliant. Now, car reliance in America is a huge problem. I've always been fascinated by Amsterdam and other countries where they figured out walkability. Much is done in pre-planning to create a walkable city. There are many places in America where it's nearly too late to build a city that respects pedestrians, community. Often, it needs to be a new development or a complete restoration. Now, there's one alternative to these drastic measures in creating a more personal, walkable city: roundabouts.

Carmel

Carmel, Indiana, where I spent part of my middle school and high school years, has the

most roundabouts of any city in the world, more than 150. There are only 100,000 people living in Carmel, why are there so many roundabouts?

Well, once you become used to the driving style necessary to go through a roundabout,

you immediately recognize the value in it. When I think of Carmel, Indiana, I had a great experience. This was due to the fact that even before I could drive, I could bike or walk straight from my house, which is on the outskirts, to the middle of the city in less than 30 minutes. 

When I lived in Carmel, I was learning to drive, so  I still biked a lot. I remember clearly the ride I took almost everyday to downtown. I traveled to restaurants or parks, where you would see: women pushing strollers across the road with peace of mind and safety, the respect from drivers to hail pedestrians, the ease with which everyone handled roundabouts, and almost zero honking.

A couple of years ago, I was going to visit a friend in Carmel after I had moved, and I wanted to attend church. I was at my friend's house. He didn't plan on attending with me. So I said, okay, tomorrow at 8 am, knowing he won't wake up till 10 am, I'm going to head to the nearest church. I had no car or bike, but that was no issue. On my 15-minute walk, I crossed zero intersections. There was no danger. The same walk in Edmond would be treacherous. 

Safety, Traffic Flow, Investment

Roundabouts open up the possibilities of what you can do in a city. The danger of driving a vehicle is very high, but roundabouts drop that danger significantly. Intersections slow traffic by making it start and stop, rather than continuous flow. Roundabouts offer unobstructed traffic flow. Road development is expensive, bad for the environment, and requires continuous upkeep plus energy cost. Roundabouts are a long-term investment.

Safety: Roundabouts are much safer than a common intersection or four-way stop, which gives cars the opportunity to t-bone each other or hit each other head-on. One of the safest crashes you can get in is rear-ending. On a roundabout, that's about all you can do. Because of its circular shape, you must slow down to approach the roundabout. The most you can do is bump someone in the back. Even today I witnessed a t-bone crash at an intersection in Edmond. Stats say the number of deaths and fatal vehicle accidents changed from around 12.9 a year on average in the U.S. to around 2.3 a year on average in Carmel, Indiana. Having a safer city doesn't only look good for city planning and for statistics, but it changes the way people think about a city.

Traffic Flow: Ask a driver what’s most frustrating about a drive down 2nd. It’s that stopping and starting which is inevitable, even at a slow hour. What does a roundabout offer as a principle? Zero stops. Yielding is necessary, but waiting at a roundabout for more than 10 seconds is nearly unheard of. Even during rush hour, the efficiency of letting all directions flow to their final destination changes the waiting game. Continuous flow of traffic shortens the time it takes to arrive at a final destination. That goes whether it is a busy hour or a quiet one.

Investment: The price for installing a new intersection with traffic lights is about $400,000; now, if you consider an intersection like 2nd and Broadway, it would be even more expensive. It's a very complicated intersection plus there's history you don't want torn up in the process of changing  road infrastructure. Instead, look at roundabouts. There is no electricity required. The need to pay for electricity again and again vanishes. Roundabouts also last. Traffic lights require replacement every 10 years, roundabouts, every 25.

Tying Edmond Together

Starting with a roundabout is a catalyst. It gives people the vision: that roundabouts are safe and very practical. To a citizen, it's easy to sell roundabouts. Who doesn’t want less traffic, more connection, more safety. To a representative, someone in government, how can you be convinced that a roundabout is worth it? As a representative you serve the needs of the people with a vision. The new Edmond tagline is, “a place to be connected”. Simply, a roundabout unlocks and connects areas that are ruled by cars. Look at downtown Edmond. There are places like Blocworks, Round Midnight, Evoke, and more, built for connection. Areas like the Railyard give people a safe place to gather. Every time you go, you see someone you know, it truly brings Edmond together. Roundabouts take this to the next level.

When you're walking around downtown Edmond, it takes a minute to cross everywhere. For a city to feel “connected”, walking around can and should be an experience or an adventure, not something hindered by those long waits for pedestrian crossing. After listening to the people, the most valuable place to insert a roundabout would be on 2nd and Broadway, right outside of downtown Edmond. The reason for that, as many drivers can attest to in Edmond, that intersection is the scariest place you can drive. Roundabouts will change the way you cross Edmond. Imagine the peace. No quick stops at 45 miles per hour. It doesn’t disrupt events that are integral to downtown like Heard on Hurd or Liberty Fest. It is for the city and for the citizens.

Anecdote

I remember an experience where my parents left home for a week, and my grandparents flew down from Edmond to stay with us. My grandpa isn't the safest driver ever. During his stay, he, with no objective other than learning how to use a roundabout, took my sister and me out daily. It didn't take long for him to learn it. His first roundabout loop was disappointing. I thought, maybe roundabouts aren’t for everyone. It was obvious that he wasn't aware of how to handle a roundabout, never having used one. Although he complained early on at the complexity, later on in the week, we saw him breeze through roundabouts easily. He understood  the value. My hope was restored, maybe roundabouts are the solution. Even my grandpa saw it, after 70 years, as a slave to the traffic light.

Call to Action

Roundabouts bring new life to cities: connecting what intersections have separated, emphasizing safety, and respecting pedestrians. Edmond can use roundabouts to embody “a place to be connected”. Imagine roundabouts downtown, rethinking what community is, for good. Please consider installing one downtown: 2nd and Broadway. Start the revolution…