City Considers Roundabouts as Solution for Dangerous Intersection

Tony Weiden, owner of Glass Mountain, an art design shop near Gilman Street and Interstate 80, calls the intersection "no man's land."

In the coming weeks, Berkeley City Council will consider an estimated $15 million traffic project to address the intersection, known as one of the most dangerous in the city.

The West Berkeley intersection has traffic flowing from 14 directions, mediated solely by stop signs.

In the last five years, 54 accidents-primarily vehicle collisions-have taken place at the intersection, according to Farid Javandel, the city's transportation manager.

"It's been known for a long time, this is a difficult set of intersections," Javandel said.

The proposed solution would entail constructing a double roundabout, one on each side of the highway.

Unlike the nearby residential traffic circle at Marin and Arlington avenues, the roundabouts would allow traffic to move continuously in a circle and would have no stop signs.

In the coming weeks, the council will vote to give the city manager authority to contract with an agency. The agency will then conduct a study determining the scope and cost of the roundabouts, Javandel said.

He said $1.5 million in federal and local funds from last year have enabled the city to pay for the study.

City officials have spent more than five years discussing the idea of the roundabouts with officials from Caltrans, the state's transportation department, which must grant final approval of the project.

Caltrans will work closely with city officials to initiate the project-which would be the Bay Area's first major roundabout at a highly trafficked intersection, said the department's Public Information Officer Brigetta Smith.

"We have been and will continue to work with the city of Berkeley to make this project happen if that is what they want," she said.

According to Javandel, the project could be finished in four years. Lobbyists for the city are working at the federal level to get funding.

But Councilmember Kriss Worthington said the project's cost is a concern.

"I do worry about how many millions of dollars we're pouring into one particular intersection," he said.

Worthington also said residents have complained that traffic circles are confusing and that many prefer traffic lights to the proposed roundabouts.

But city traffic engineers said the roundabouts are a better solution than traffic lights.

Traffic lights at the Gilman Street intersection could cause gridlock during peak hours, according to Javandel.

Weiden said he sees many near-collisions and believes the roundabouts could alleviate the problem.

"I think (the roundabouts) would be definitely an improvement to the madness down there now," he said. "If there is control it would probably be better for business, people would be more likely to come down to Gilman and not be scared."

The project also includes creating a mixed-use path for pedestrians and cyclists on the north side of the roundabouts.

Javandel said the separate path could help address safety issues, especially because a sports field near the intersection draws many young children, pedestrians and cyclists.

"It would raise the comfort level for pedestrians and cyclists who don't want to ride on the road," he said. "They get their own dedicated path on the interchange."

Tags: INTERSTATE 80