MyWHaT

Weekly Occasional Poll

There’s no new poll this week, however, the results from last week’s poll are in and it’s conclusive…Traverse City supports roundabouts!

OK, I’m not that naive. There remains a lot of fear and misunderstanding about them, as well as some genuine dislike. Still, nothing has been presented as substantial evidence to discredit them. All we have is what’s to be expected: the unknown & change is unpopular; the human animal is like that.

Before we get to the MyWHaT poll, the Record Eagle also asked their readers about roundabouts. They asked, Would roundabouts make Traverse City a safer place to drive? The results were predictable: 63% No, 28% Yes.

There question isn’t all that useful.

Why ask the general public to make that call? Just ask them if they like or don’t like roundabouts, because that’s how people will answer that question. It is irrelevant whether people believe that roundies ‘would make Traverse City safer’ when they have little or no experience with them. If the Record Eagle wanted to ask about safety, they’d have been better to ask: Do you believe the professional data showing that roundabouts are safer than signalized intersections? It’s more significant knowing whether or not the public believes the data being presented than to ask them to make a technical call.

The numbers for MyWHaT’s poll are obviously not as reflective of the general public as the Record Eagle, although I think a case could be made that neither does the Record Eagle’s readers reflect the general public’s mood. Neither are scientific; the main exercise being entertainment. The early adapters and the early naysayers are all going to be more inclined to vote or comment than the general public.

Still, what I believe this BLOG’s poll can show is that there is a large number of people in the community who are ready for something different and who are willing to make it happen (the vast majority being within city limits).

click to enlarge

In addition to the above numbers, 25 people who answered the question expressed an interest to help advocate for this corridor by including an email address (we will be in touch).

So, where do we go from here?

Small groups are meeting to discuss the roundabout solution and some of them are random, some of them are organized. I’ve overheard discussions about them in the confines of the governmental center, on the street, over a beer at Right Brain and yesterday morning the Grand Vision transportation committee briefly discussed them (no real news there.)

It’s all part of the process; something this city loves.  Somehow a definitive choice will be made. I trust it will be made based on facts and information and not popularity polls that may or not be being answered by informed participants.

These scientific polling results from the Institute of Transportation Engineers’study of the public acceptance of roundabouts is a reminder that this is not a popularity context. Notice something compared to the RE poll?

Somehow, despite public resistance, they are being implemented in other places…

I will now try to shut-up about the roundies for a while…

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