Remember no one is asking for an end to traffic calming, just TC reform. You be the judge.

From "Bolder Bicycle Commuters" newsletter-1997

In The Street (Traffic Calming)

Premena

In the continuing saga of Neighborhood Traffic Mitigation Program [NTMP] new bumps seem to pop up daily. Closer observation and use of the two bumps on Edgewood has led me to give them a bad grade - On their northern end they have been made to slope to the curb pan _across_ the bike lane. This is not a safe design for the bike lane and I have told the city so. The problem doesn't occur on the south end of the bump as the bile lanes are away from the curb to allow car parking.

New experimental features have appeared mid-block on Spruce near 17^th and further eastward. These are a combination of raised crosswalk [yet to be installed at this writing] and a short center island. Please take a look at them and tell the city what you think. There is no other place in Boulder that this design is used that I know of. My initial reaction is negative since they are effectively chokers bumped out from the middle rather than pinched in from the side. They are posted for no passing of bicycles in the structure.

The 4-way stop at University and 9th was installed and working OK last I went through there. Mainly I'm crossing east-west and it helps on that route.

I find it annoying that the pavement included in the new bike lanes on 13^th street - mainly west side - is rough from past sewer work and often cars are parked in the bike lanes on the east side next to the school.

Happy & safe riding to you all....

Traffic Circles

Evan Ravitz

Note: This letter was voted on at a Bolder Bicycle Commuters meeting (November 1996) and approved. It was sent to the editors of the four newspapers by Gwen Ecks.

Bolder Bicycle Commuters urges the City to stop using traffic circles, as well as medians and neckdowns, as traffic "mitigation". The test circle at 17^th and Pine is now the most dangerous intersection in town, as measured by calls to the Close Call Hotline (441-4272). The circle at 15^th and Pine is 3^rd most dangerous. This alone justifies banning them.

Some say the circles can be fixed. History shows how: In 1988, North 9^th Street residents asked for several 4-way stops to slow traffic. The City's Transportation Division said they wouldn't work, although the 4-way at Maxwell and 9^th worked fine. After 6 years and over $10,000 of studies, reports and acrimonious meetings, 9^th Street finally got a circle, a median and a set of neckdowns, costing some $120,000. Some go the wrong way around the circle and accidents have increased. Last month 4-way stops were installed on 9^th at Dellwood and Forest, finally solving the problem!

It's time for The City to stop divisively and expensively "mitigating" problems and start simply and cheaply solving them. Traffic circles are the most dangerous and expensive method, costing some $40,000 each, plus upkeep on the standard high-maintenance landscaping and sprinkler systems. The Camera's front page story 10/30/96 says "disputes over traffic circles have pitted neighbor against neighbor in an escalating public brawl."

We prefer photo radar or other speed law enforcement, gentle speed humps, timed traffic lights, or raised crosswalks to slow traffic. With Fort Collins' success in cutting accidents in half with photo radar at no cost to taxpayers (Daily Camera front page, December 3), this should be tried first.