Is the roundabout truck friendly?

I went to the public meeting that was held for the roundabout awhile back and the raised bricks are made that way for the trucks.

Howard, shouldn't you wait till the road is done before asking the question? Maureen is also right, the bricks are made for large trucks to drive on.

I agree what's so wrong with asking questions now...And if the design was for the trucks to drive on the bricks to make the turn how long do they think those bricks will last....Heres a another dumb question ,In the winter who will be plowing the circle..State or city..Don't they think the bricks will get all tore up by having to plow that part..I forgot who deceided we needed this thing in the first place.....

I was totally against the circle, round-about, pain in the colon, whatever you want to call it, from the beginning. It raises too much ambiguity with direction, turn taking, fault, care, etc. I no longer take my normal route through there anymore. Bad decision Batavia.

<i>As always, please do not attack me for my opinion.</i>

Mai,
This round about may or may not work. I bet the local people will get use to it fast. I'll wait and see when its all done.

But to be fair, this was a State decision. The City of Batavia had very little say in the matter

Tell you the truth; I don’t even give a traffic circle a second thought at this point in my life. There is nothing ambiguous about it, stick to the right and don’t run into anything.

Mark, the guys who work at the DPW can handle plowing the roads without causing damage. I know you enjoy bashing them but, they are pretty good at their job.

Charlie ..I don't enjoy bashing them ,never have...was just asking a question thats all...I know we should all just shut up and not ask questions..If trucks can't get around the thing with out going over the bricks,why would it be any easier for the plows..Its you guys who like to keep throwing more work on the DPW...

Did oversize load trucks ever use 98 south??? It should've been designed a little wider...talk about making your loads shift....I wonder when the first tipover will be....I can't wait to see people navigate this in winter when the plows haven't been out-I foresee ruined tires and suspension work.....just another thought-they finally moved the Tim Horton's drive thru lane back farther,so hopefully traffic won't be stopped on Main St.now....however-the people who designed this and put curbs in weren't too bright-if you have a long wheelbase vehicle,you will have to back up and really hug outside curb to make the turn-I found this out this morning.....

Mark, you should put yourself in the shoes of our DPW people and think about how you would perceive someone making reference to what you can or cannot do.

If I worked for the DPW, I would dump snow in front of your house every day till you had use a ski lift to get your paper. Lucky for you, those people are a lot nicer than I am. :-)

Charlie you are one real jerk...The point of it all wasn't what they can or can't do it how poorly the whole round about is...but you wouldn't understand..why not just make it all black top..why have the center raised at all..why use bricks..like Bob said wait till a truck tips over ..From what i hear you are not to well liked at the DPW..My paper is delivered to my door..

Are you on vacation, Charlie, or do you always get to blog at work all day?

Plowing snow is fine, But when there is heavy snow for days, side streets are one lane. What about snow "removal" for the round about ?

Gabor don't bring that up or Charlie will label you anti DPW and hope that they dump snow in front of your house..

Lighten up Mark, no one is putting snow in front of your house or wants anyone to plow you in.

Seriously, I didn't hear a concern about plowing from the DPW.

Almost as stupid as the mall sorry I mean centre (sp).

Charlie,
Is Rt 98 plowed by the City, County or State?

I dont shovel snow in a circle, I just hope that someone thought about the need for "snow removal". I am kind of excited for this coming winters snow storm to find out !

Charlie may not answer, john...he's probably left work by now and I bet he doesn't know the answer to your question. I would assume it's the city that plows as they plow main st. that are 3 state routes, walnut and oak are plowed by the city as well.

John, city plows take care of state roads and we are reimbursed for the work.

The DOT researched the area and told us a roundabout was the best solution and that is exactly what they were going to build. When complete, I believe it is going to be a very nice improvement to the city. The fact is, it does not matter what you think or I think at this point. It is something we are going to have to live with so, why not make the best of it?

@Bob: There shouldn't be an opening from Main Street to the Tim Hortons/Wendy's plaza, in my opinion. If people just went down Jefferson Ave and turned left in between both buildings, that would solve a lot of problems.

I've lost count how many times I've been hit or seen someone get hit at Tim Hortons during the morning rush. That parking lot isn't designed to have traffic coming from all directions.

I don't have a problem with the round about. It's just not that hard to figure out. I was there at about 4 PM and watched three 18 wheelers go around it with no problem.

If the State was right or wrong will be known in a few months, when the project is done. Unitl then, I can wait to see.

Mr. Owens, It's not that the truck in the picture is only half way onto the brick area. There should be no traffic on the brick area.

The red bricks aren't bricks at all. It's concrete that has been dyed and stamped to look like bricks. It's made that way for appearance only, as the strength of the concrete is the same as that of a sidewalk.

No, the asphalt isn't going to be raised to the level of the brick area, nor is it designed to. The inner curb with the bevel on it is supposed to be the inside of the traffic lane. It's my understanding that the contractor, after seeing how narrow the lane is, installed the beveled curb just to save trucker's tires from getting destroyed (this part is just what I heard and may not be correct).

The tire marks on the red brick part are not there because people have decided it's OK to drive there. The marks are there because it's physically impossible for a tractor with a 40+ foot long trailer to navigate a turn with such a small radius and such a narrow lane without the wheels from the trailer hopping over the curb - just like the truck and trailer in the picture.

Make no mistake, the inner part of the circle is not intended for, nor designed for driving on. It's happening because whomever designed the circle didn't make a wide enough lane for the tightness of the turn. It's fine for cars and even straight bodied trucks. But tractor trailers are simply too long for the trailer wheels to stay on the pavement.

So to answer your question, no, the roundabout is not truck friendly. This is unfortunate, because by this time next year, probably sooner, the inner side of the lane - the outer edge of the red brick area - will be cracked and broken, most likely to the point that it will have to be replaced and probably redesigned to make it so it is truck friendly.

And that will raise the question of who is going to pay for that?

Matt great insight to a problem that that taxpayers will have to pay for..I noticed also that they have added blacktop to one side of it to make it easier for trucks to go up on the red brick part,so there must be a problem.....Where are the DOT engineers on this issue..But according to Charlie Mallow we should not worry about it..