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Los Carneros Roundabout
updated: Jun 21, 2012, 2:44 PM

By Edhat Subscriber

Does anyone know the actual start date of the Los Carneros roundabout? I noticed trucks there this morning.. City of Goleta says it was scheduled to start the week of 6/11.

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

COMMENT 290182P	2012-06-21 02:51 PM
Are my wife and I the only ones who dislikes these things?
COMMENT 290189	2012-06-21 02:59 PM
182P, Me too (seriously, I used to absolutely hate them), until I realized that A) they save time (case in point: Cliff at Las Positas. Can't wait for that roundy!) B) they save the environment two ways: keeping cars from stopping (acceleration from a stop lets off much, much higher levels of pollution than acceleration from a slow speed) and keeping cars from idling while waiting in the stop line, and C) they're fun shaped!
COMMENT 290193	2012-06-21 03:02 PM
OP here. I find them fairly easy to navigate given you/the cars go when you are supposed to and don't stop completely.
COMMENT 290194	2012-06-21 03:05 PM
Good thing the CHP is close by, it's going to be accident after accident!
COMMENT 290197	2012-06-21 03:14 PM
It's totally not needed there. The three way stop signs work perfect. Just trying to be cool I guess. 189 - One blast from a nearby private jet plane would eliminate all the "savings" from stoping and starting there.
COMMENT 290213	2012-06-21 03:46 PM
I think they should install roundabout's anywhere space will allow. they are sooo much more efficient given you know how to use one. you would be surprised how many people stop at roundabouts unnecessarily. if there is no one to your left, GO!!
COMMENT 290223	2012-06-21 04:14 PM
Yes, they are efficient "providing you know how to use them", and that is why I *don't* like them. I may know perfectly well how to use the roundabout on Milpas St., but heaven help you if you get a tourist or someone from out of town on one who doesn't have a clue. It's pretty scary when you see them looking the wrong way as they enter.....yikes! The clincher is when they suddenly realize they want to exit and are on the inside lane and cut in front of you. Oh and how about the ones that enter and go the wrong way....I have seen that on the APS roundabout.
COMMENT 290234P	2012-06-21 04:26 PM
People don't have to be from out of town to use the roundabout incorrectly. The Milpas one is ridiculous most of the time. I have no idea why people insist on entering the roundabout and cutting to the inside to continue on to Milpas. It stays two lanes. No need to cut anyone off for any reason. Of course during the construction it was so much worse. People could not understand the sign that clearly showed the outside lane was for the freeway entrance only. There is just a very high concentration of bad drivers in Santa Barbara.
COMMENT 290257	2012-06-21 05:30 PM
I'm going to vote yes on a roundabout. Even with the problem drivers out there, I believe they benefit us. Montecito, Salinas, Milpas, Long Beach, Germany, France. All have been great at keeping the cars moving along. Less of a headache than waiting for a stop sign or stop light. Now, if they can block people from entering into the Milpas Shopping Center from Carpinteria St. when they just get off of the Milpas roundabout I will be happy. I hate it when you have the right of way going forward towards the roundabout and somebody who wants to go left into the shopping center parking lot gives you an evil eye, honks madly at you and moves into your lane blocking everybody. All get upset at me for not allowing them to illegally cut in. These people could go into the parking lot by entering off of Milpas Street, it's much easier.
COMMENT 290268	2012-06-21 06:20 PM
I hate roundabouts that aren't round.
COMMENT 290278	2012-06-21 06:40 PM
Sounds like alot of people love stop signs and lights.
COMMENT 290306	2012-06-21 08:21 PM
I grew up in Boston, where there are thousands of them, they are no problem if you have grown up with them, but we always called them rotarys.
COMMENT 290314P	2012-06-21 09:04 PM
306, I did too. Fresh pond at rush hour was always fun. I also navigated a school bus around the Rte 2 rotary by the Concord reformatory at 7:30 each morning. I came in off a side street, crossed the Rte 2 traffic at each end and exited another side road. I think I was the bane of the those commuters life for years.
S.B.RON	2012-06-22 08:31 AM
Roundabouts are fabulous. Does anyone remember the line-ups at APS/Salinas before they put one in there? Why did they not put one at the WORST intersection - Fairview/Calle Real - when they did all that reconstruction a few years ago?
COMMENT 290353	2012-06-22 08:41 AM
The roundabout at UCSB coming off Ward Memorial has been great, keeps traffic moving and has eliminated the line of cars entering campus that at certain times during the year could be as long as 200 cars. The only problem is cars coming from the right side of campus who NEVER slow or yield to traffic that is already in the circle, they just fly across to get to the other side of campus. somehow those coming from the right don't seem to get the idea or right-of-way. I am amazed there haven't been dozens of accidents.
COMMENT 290374	2012-06-22 09:24 AM
Doesn't anyone know the answer to the OP's question? i don't know the date but maybe it's on the City of Goleta's website.
COMMENT 290390	2012-06-22 09:48 AM
374 - I checked there, and it said its supposed to start the week of 6/11, which was the week before last. I just ride through there every morning and haven't seen so much as a sign noting future closure yet, so I'm wondering how far behind they are. It appears the trucks I saw there yesterday were not for that construction. They weren't granite, which is who the contract was awarded to, and they weren't there on my way home yesterday. We'll see how it pans out. I ride my bike to/from work through there everyday, and was liking the idea of the roundabout. The stop sign isn't bad, but its difficult to tell what people are going to do sometimes.
COMMENT 290406	2012-06-22 10:05 AM
I'm pretty sure the trucks were just there yesterday because of the event at the Stow House. The trucks and lots of gravel had been in the lot between the fire house and the Stow House for the last few weeks, but they needed it for parking last night. And it is a great intersection for a roundabout- most of the day there's not really enough traffic to require an all way stop, but it gets busy for a few hours in the evening. Better not to make everyone stop unnecessarily for the rest of the day. Might be a little tricky on a bike, but it's already messy there with most of the traffic merging into the right turn lane, which cuts off the bike lane.
COMMENT 291235	2012-06-25 01:27 PM
The project is now expected to start mid-July. Updates on the status can be viewed on the City's capital improvement project website at projectgoleta dot com. (PIO - City of Goleta)

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