LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Roundabout isn’t needed

To the editor:

A roundabout on a highway? Well, that should be interesting! I have been in roundabouts in Europe and they work fine until you insert one person who doesn’t understand the concept, usually an American, and suddenly you’ve got pandemonium. Horns honking, brakes screeching, voices yelling and various hand gestures, all directed at you. I speak from experience.

And those vehicles are all little Volkswagons, Fiats, Porsches and other cars about the size of a Morris Minor with a few European-size delivery vans in a setting in downtown areas of Rome, Athens, Paris or some other large city.

Now, put that same setting on a highway with a few tractor trailers, several tandem dump trucks, ferry traffic with numerous RVs and tourists who don’t know the island, all traveling along at 50 mph and lo and behold, a roundabout in the middle of the highway! Does the county actually believe that this is going to expedite traffic? Perhaps some entrance and exit ramps would be money better spent if the problem even exists to the point of needing to be fixed.

I use that intersection frequently and seldom have to wait for any length of time to get across or make a turn. I don’t think another traffic light is warranted.

Between a roundabout and reservations for the Clinton-Mukilteo ferry, it’s fascinating to try to imagine what’s next.

Steve Stevenson

Freeland

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