Subscriber Comments for
Roundabout Review

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 332899	2012-10-18 01:32 PM
With all the bicycle vs. car collisions around town, I wonder how well bikes and cars will mix in a roundabout?
COMMENT 332902	2012-10-18 01:35 PM
Thanks for the clarification on bike rules!
COMMENT 332906	2012-10-18 01:40 PM
The lane merger just before the roundabout seems less safe than the previous dedicated turn lane, to me. (If it were up to me, I would've just moved the traffic light from Hollister and La Sumida, so it would do something other than keep people from clearing the next light!)
COMMENT 332907	2012-10-18 01:40 PM
I've already had to slam on my breaks because someone decided to enter the round-a-bout when they shouldn't have. Hopefully no accidents occur while people are still getting used to it.
COMMENT 332910	2012-10-18 01:45 PM
Americans cannot figure these out.(I say Americans because they're standard in almost every other country) If I had a dollar for every idiot that stops at the entry when they have the right of way, I could buy the Yacht Club...we'll at least a few months rent.
COMMENT 332912	2012-10-18 01:47 PM
I dislike roundabouts and did not think one needed to be there at all.
COMMENT 332913	2012-10-18 01:47 PM
The bulbout shape going into the roundabout makes me somewhat weary seeing as I ride my bike through there everyday. So far I haven't gone through with much traffic, luckily. I have a feeling it will become fun come next year when the Fairview overpass gets closed though. I'll probably end up taking the long way.
COMMENT 332914P	2012-10-18 01:47 PM
Roundabouts are great, they work great, now, how to get California drivers to use them properly? Don't slam on your brakes at the entrance....ease into it, thats it, you can do it... Look to your left, repeat, look to your left, repeat...and so on.
COMMENT 332915	2012-10-18 01:48 PM
I love the new roundabout and am amazed at how quickly it was built.
COMMENT 332917	2012-10-18 01:53 PM
Don't worry everyone, soon enough the trial and error period will be over and drivers will act less idiotic. I lived in a city that suddenly began building roundabouts EVERYWHERE they could - times were tough for awhile, people were mad and couldn't get the hang of them, but after some time passed...it was as if roundabout conflicts were never a thing. Give it time.
COMMENT 332922	2012-10-18 02:01 PM
There are a few roundabouts near my home. Even though the streets are not that busy, almost every time I drive through them I encounter people speeding through, not looking, and not yielding to a person already in the roundabout. They have been there for a while so I fail to understand the ignorance of the folks using them. Maybe for some people roundabouts simply don't compute.
COMMENT 332927	2012-10-18 02:12 PM
The most important tip is: Vehicles entering the roundabout must YIELD to vehicles already inside the roundabout. All vehicles entering and exiting must yield to pedestrians Once you're in the roundabout, don't stop to let other cars in!
COMMENT 332929	2012-10-18 02:15 PM
@910 as the original article stated, "Vehicles entering the roundabout must YIELD to vehicles already inside the roundabout." Says the same thing in the California DMV handbook. So, I'm not sure what you mean.
COMMENT 332907	2012-10-18 02:22 PM
I think he/she meant litteraly treating it at a stop sign vs a yield.
COMMENT 332932	2012-10-18 02:23 PM
910 you have it backwards...you are supposed to yield (stop if necessary) at the entrance. Those in the circle have right of way.
COMMENT 332934	2012-10-18 02:28 PM
Roundabouts make sense in highly urbanized environments where space is at an absolute premium over safety. They make no sense at all in a wide open country like the United States.
COMMENT 332939	2012-10-18 02:36 PM
I think it was a waste of tax dollars, was it really necessary? I think not, thanks City of Goleta, no Target but we get traffic circles.
COMMENT 332913	2012-10-18 02:45 PM
939: I would rather have the roundabout than a 3 way stop come spring next year when the Fairview overpass gets diverted to Los Carneros/Patterson. The roundabout is FAR more efficient at keeping cars moving than a 3 way stop.
COMMENT 332945	2012-10-18 02:50 PM
I love roundabouts. They do make traffic flow a lot easier, when used properly. I work by the Coast Vilalge Rd roundabout and almost everyday I have to deal with people that STILL don't know how to use it. People entering the roundabout using the wrong lane (even though the signs CLEARLY say what lane you should be in!) then switching lanes to either stay in or leave with no regard that there might be someone in the lane next to you! Other people STOPPING in the roundabout for either someone WAITING to get on, or even worse stopping and trying to back up! And my personal favorite, people just entering without even looking to the left. Can't even count the amount of times i almost hit a car doing that. If it wasn't for me not wanted to deal with the hassle i wouldn't slow down and let them learn. This concludes my rant. :)
COMMENT 332946	2012-10-18 02:50 PM
In America, I believe the proper roundabout protocol is to close your eyes and stomp on the gas. At least that's what it looks like. I see people push into a roundabout as a car is bearing down on them. I see people come to a complete stop and sit at an empty roundabout. I'm amazed that municipalities put in roundabouts without a sufficient campaign to educate drivers. The DMV can manage to put a "specialty plates" flyer in their renewal notices but nothing to explain a rare but increasingly deployed traffic control system. Put a flyer in the renewal notices and run a couple PSAs and take the mystery out of it.
COMMENT 332948	2012-10-18 02:55 PM
906 You sound lost .
COMMENT 332950P	2012-10-18 02:59 PM
Just another part of the SB/Goleta area that I will avoid driving through. Being near a highway patrol station makes me wonder how quickly their monthly ticket quotas will be met.
COMMENT 332955P	2012-10-18 03:12 PM
I've used the roundabouts on Milpas and in Montecito. I am not sure what training was given to anyone but it is painfully obvious a vast majority of the local drivers have no idea how to navigate them. That is not surprising when you realize the vast majority has no idea how to safely navagate regular streets in the city. Hopefully Goleta drivers are more courteous than the ones I normally encounter in Montecito and SB.
COMMENT 332907	2012-10-18 03:15 PM
939. This happened because the fairview offramp is closing for a year. Not because the city of Goleta wanted to waste tax money.
COMMENT 332970	2012-10-18 03:33 PM
Blew thru there this arvo. Sweet as a rose. They should put roundies everywhere.
COMMENT 332981	2012-10-18 03:49 PM
In my 40+ years in Goleta, I have never seen a collision or more than 3 cars stopped at any time at that intersection. This is what "General Plans" get you, overpriced, unneeded, dangerous nonsense. At least they didn't add bulbouts and brick walkways that come apart within the month.
COMMENT 332982	2012-10-18 03:51 PM
So if a pedestrian is crossing just outside the roundabout you must stop while in the roundabout and all cars in the roundabout stop until pedestrian has crossed? Is that correct? Hope everyone is paying attention.
COMMENT 332997	2012-10-18 04:12 PM
Woohoo! Roundabouts are fun! Anyone with any sort of common sense will do fine entering and exiting the roundabout. They work so well in other countries, its about time Goleta got one of their own. Now the grudge match: which will one will have more accidents, Los Carneros or Milpas? I'll bet on Los Carneros given the proximity to UCSB and the CHP station.
RICHYRICH	2012-10-18 04:33 PM
Do you remember how many people freaked out about the roundabout going in at Milpas and 101? So many folks poo pooed it. Now look how relativelty smooth it works compared to sitting at lights and all of us waiting our turn.
COMMENT 333028	2012-10-18 05:05 PM
What 332939 et al don't get is that just a few blocks away a huge complex of buildings is being constructed for Deckers and other companies, and the volume of traffic going through this intersection is going to skyrocket over the next few years. I have worked in the Los Carneros / Hollister area for 13 years now, and I absolutely love this roundabout. The only people who complain about roundabouts are those that are too stupid to know how to navigate one (my suggestion...stay off my road).
COMMENT 332913	2012-10-18 05:29 PM
981: You move here last week or just drive through there once a decade? Having only had my driver's license for about 6 years, I've had at least 5 close calls at that intersection and seen over a dozen accidents.
SBJULES	2012-10-18 06:24 PM
look to the left!
COMMENT 333074	2012-10-18 07:35 PM
I'm a simple person - I own it - it's all good - I am going to keep my happy ass out of there - there's other ways to get to Vons and BB&F'ing Beyond and I'ma use those routes. Be safe out there folks.
COMMENT 333075	2012-10-18 07:36 PM
981, I know someone who was serioulsy injured at that intersection, an accident that I believe was the impetus for making it a three way stop. The roundabout is a big improvement. I drive the three SB roundabouts on a regular basis. The vast majority of drivers do just fine. You'll get used to it. How often does anyone see a pedestrian at Los Carneros/Calle Real? What is there to walk to? This is an imagined concern, not a real one.
COMMENT 333081	2012-10-18 08:01 PM
I don't mind the Milpas or CVR roundabouts, but los carneros and Hollister at one lane is just too tight a radius. It's a race heading north on los carneros and God help delivery people, fire trucks, and rv drivers trying to make the turns. About a year ago a similar one lane roundabout was installed on 246 just east of Lompoc. They lost signage and landscaping so often from vehicles that had to cut the corner due to the tight radius, or those that drove straight through and over the center space, that the county has has given up replacing the signs.
COMMENT 333094	2012-10-18 08:40 PM
Heehee... how many times must the Chicken Littles come out and make their proclamation about the sky falling in on roundabouts? It happened at the Milpas/Carpinteria and at the Coast Village Rd but everytime I go through it's smooth as silk, no wrecks, no blood, no busted curbs. It's progress, people, and it's good for you.
COMMENT 333028	2012-10-19 06:33 AM
981 - Yes, and in your 40+ years here you probably have driven through that intersection twice. You knoweth not what you talketh about my friend.
AQUAHOLIC	2012-10-19 07:17 AM
I was the biggest naysayer of roundabouts, particularly the Milpas one....boy, was I wrong. When people get accustomed to navigating through, they work fantastic...love them! The CVR one is a little tricky (I messed up the first time and ended up on Old Coast Hwy when I wanted to get on northbound 101) and it sees quite a bit of non-local traffic now that the onramp is gone, but it works just beautifully. I prefer a roundabout, to idling at stop signs, waiting for who's next, which many people can't seem to get right!
COMMENT 333128	2012-10-19 07:18 AM
074 sounds just like me; don't care for the roundabout and will now alter my Saturday morning shopping route to avoid it.
COMMENT 332970	2012-10-19 07:40 AM
128 and 074, do you still own buggy whips....or did you finally get a car?
COMMENT 333133	2012-10-19 07:42 AM
To all who hate roundabouts: They save gas. They do not require signal lights. They work normally when the electric power is out (which I suspect explains their use all over the world).
COMMENT 333137	2012-10-19 08:01 AM
they are easy, you just need to remember that you go in at noon, and you're going to go out at 9, 6, 3.
COMMENT 333153	2012-10-19 08:33 AM
So, you have built a meat grinder that will destroy any cyclist riding in it. And then you have the audacity to demand cyclists walk their bikes if they take the "multi-use path"? Bicyclists should walk their bikes on the same day motorists are asked to walk their cars through it.
COMMENT 333171	2012-10-19 09:09 AM
Off topic, I know, but 939, yes, you are so right. We NEED a Target. Sheeesh. WHEN is that gonna happen? On topic: I LOVE the roundabouts.
COMMENT 332899	2012-10-19 09:17 AM
153 - that's my concern as well. How on earth can cars and bicycles coexist in a roundabout? We have all seen (daily) the number of bike/car collisions on regular streets. I would hate to be a bicyclist trying to go through one of these. Don't the have a bike path that avoids it?
COMMENT 333241	2012-10-19 11:16 AM
it's really f-ing simple---slow down, look to the LEFT, enter when no one is coming. DON'T worry about who is on your RIGHT and if it is their turn or not; don't worry if the folks to your right have been waiting longer than you; this is not a 4 way intersection. Of course DO look out for peds and cyclists.
COMMENT 333081	2012-10-19 11:44 AM
Milpas and coast village road roundabouts have two lanes. Los Carneros has one lane. Huge difference. I'm Ok with roundabouts if designed well. This one lane is too tight for bikes and big vehicles. As others have said, the Deckers facility, the Islamic center, Willows 2 and 3, and other planned developments near this intersection will require a rebuild soon. I predict they'll demo the roundabout within five years and install stop lights.
COMMENT 333262	2012-10-19 11:55 AM
“People are afraid to merge ..." the opening line of LESS THAN ZERO, by Bret Easton Ellis
COMMENT 333028	2012-10-19 03:06 PM
333255 - One lane is more than adequate for an intersection with only three "spokes", like this one.
COMMENT 332899	2012-10-19 03:10 PM
Luckily, I am on the City of Goleta's email list and I received an email this morning with the instructions as listed by the OP PLUS not one, but TWO, youtube videos instructing me on the proper use of a roundabout. Sounds like others out there could really benefit from these....
COMMENT 333443	2012-10-19 05:39 PM
I think in general, the biggest problem is that some people can't handle change and are not interested in learning. People still don't know how to use a center left turn lane (Calle Real Center) or a double left turn lane (SB 101 onramp at La Cumbre), because when they learned to drive in the 1950's those things didn't exist.
COMMENT 333531P	2012-10-20 03:54 AM
You want to have some real fun----go to Australia or New Zealand and drive through the roundabouts there. Or anywhere that you're driving "on the wrong side of the road." Talk about sweaty palms . . .
CORKY	2012-10-21 03:49 PM
I did the same thing the first time I used the one in Montecito. Thought I was entering northbound and got on Coast Village, but not since then.

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