Should roundabouts be built on Hwy. 227? Neighbors rally against plan ahead of meeting
In a virtual meeting on Wednesday, the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG) Board will decide whether to fund a major portion of a transportation proposal that would add controversial new roundabouts and other road improvements on Highway 227 near San Luis Obispo — a plan that has irked some residents pushing to block the project.
SLOCOG’s board will review a $7.1 million allocation as part of a $14.7 million proposal recommended by SLO County project planners. The money would go toward building two new roundabouts on the highway, one at Los Ranchos Road and another at Buckley Road, along with a new traffic signal at Farmhouse Lane.
SLO County is the lead planning agency, working in coordination with SLOCOG, the agency that reviews proposals for allocating federal and state funds.
The planning still must go through California Department of Transportation review for final design approval, and to obtain some of the additional funding needed for completion.
“Traffic congestion has been an issue on the corridor for many years, with a period of relief during the pandemic,” said Stephen Hanamaikai, a SLOCOG programming and project delivery coordinator. “... Roundabouts in general are much safer than signalized intersections, drastically reducing injury and fatal collisions.”
The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. at the following link: bit.ly/3ln025p.
Residents voice opposition
A group of residents is rallying opposition to the idea through a petition and outreach to agencies and SLOCOG board members. They don’t believe roundabouts would be safer or reduce congestion.
“It makes no sense to have trucks, farm vehicles, parents driving kids to school, and commuters — all on a 55-mile-per-hour road — suddenly slow down to try to navigate a confusing roundabout,” said Kathy Borland, a resident of Buckley Road. “Most people who live in our area are hotly opposed to this.”
Thousands of drivers use Highway 227 each day to get to the airport, Edna Valley wine country, Los Ranchos Elementary School, the San Luis Obispo Country Club, and multiple residential neighborhoods. The stretch also is a thoroughfare between SLO and South County, as an alternative to Highway 101.
SLO resident Susan Hack, who uses Highway 227 and Los Ranchos Road en route to her home, said that navigating a two-lane roundabout will be difficult and potentially cause collisions.
“I think it will make things worse for drivers and not better,” Hack said. “Because the proposed Los Ranchos roundabout has two lanes, people will be trying to move over to the left or right, potentially switching lanes, and big trucks and smaller cars will be in close contact as they make turns. There will be wrecks.”
Borland said that she requested CHP traffic data under the current Highway 227 traffic control system and it evealed no fatal accidents dating back five years. The intersection at Los Ranchos had 22 reported collisions and nine injuries, and the intersection of Buckley had 31 reported collisions with 18 injuries, she said.
She said “these statistics do not justify removing signals and replacing them with roundabouts.”
“The elephant in the room here is that Highway 101 is backing up, and people are using Highway 227 as an alternate route,” Borland added. “This isn’t about safety, because we don’t have a safety problem.”
Project planning
Genaro Diaz, a county capital projects manager, says the roundabouts are the best alternative and will help make the roadway “safer, improve access from our local roads, and they would be cheaper to maintain.”
“Congestion is only getting worse,” Diaz said.
The county reviewed multiple Highway 227 options, including an estimated $17 million project scenario involving widening the roadway to five lanes between Farmhouse and Los Ranchos (with a middle turn lane), versus the current two-lane setup.
An original county planning concept also called for four roundabouts as opposed to two.
But planners recommended the two-roundabout option after taking into consideration various traffic and safety data factors.
“Benefits and costs are weighed for multiple alternatives, and as shown in the report, keeping the highway at two lanes with roundabout controls at the majority of the intersections will relieve congestion while doing so in a manner that doesn’t sacrifice safety,” Hanamaikai said.
In an early 2020 study conducted before COVID-19 arrived in SLO County, Hanamaikai said peak-hour traffic volume between Crestmont Drive and Los Ranchos Road on Highway 227 was 2,000 cars at morning rush hour and 1,900 at evening rush hour.
A year 2045 forecast estimates 2,150 cars both in the morning and evening peak hours, Hanamaikai said.
As part of the proposed $7.1 million funding proposal, the meeting Wednesday includes consideration of a proposed $1.4 million SLOCOG allocation for restricting left turns on Crestmont Drive at peak rush hour times and converting a left turn lane at Biddle Ranch Road to a two-way left turn lane.
The county anticipates entering a final design phase between 2022 and 2024, said Diaz, noting they’re about a third of the way through the planning needed to complete the project.
Also, a remaining $5 million for construction of the proposed roundabout at Buckley is needed.
That would be sought through a new federal grant program established in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, or with future regional discretionary funding, Hanamaikai said.
Citizen alternatives
Borland and Hack say they would prefer changes such as adding turn lanes at Buckley and Crestmont, synchronizing signals, and potentially building a roundabout at Farmhouse near an industrial area, if necessary, in place of the county’s recommended plan.
Those suggested mitigations “will help move traffic back-ups from Buckley and Crestmont, which the study states is a big reason why this project is necessary,” Borland said.
Or they would be open to the option of road widening to five lanes from Aero Drive to Los Ranchos Road — but not the roundabouts at Los Ranchos and Buckley.
This week, Borland handed out fliers lobbying against the roundabout proposal to parents picking up their kids after school at Los Ranchos Elementary, where cars back up each school day as they merge onto Highway 227.
“It would be worse with the roundabouts because it would be harder for people to get out,” Borland said.
Borland said Highway 101 improvements have been discussed for years, and it’s uncertain when that will happen or if improvements will be effective to reduce traffic on Highway 227.
Planner response
Project planners have shared information with the public, saying that the Highway 227 two-lane roundabout at Los Ranchos with a spiral design will make it clear to drivers how to navigate turns.
Drivers entering would yield to those already in the roundabout, waiting for a gap in circulating traffic, they said.
“Note that whichever lane on Los Ranchos Road is utilized (or if only one entering lane is provided), entering the roundabout requires waiting for a gap in both circulating lanes,” they wrote in a written response to public concerns.
Project construction and related improvements would begin in summer 2024 with an estimated completion timeline of fall 2025, Hanamaikai said.
In response to Highway 101 traffic concerns, Hanamaikai said a planned Highway 101 Congestion Relief Project consists of widening into the median of the freeway to install a part-time lane.
That improvements are for the southbound direction of Highway 101 from Avila Beach Drive to 4th street in Pismo Beach, a stretch of about four miles, and “our analysis shows an enormous congestion relief benefit,” Hanamaikai said.
“These proposed improvements were incorporated in the regional traffic modeling used to scope work proposed on the Highway 227 corridor,” he added. “Pismo Congestion Relief is estimated to begin construction in early 2024, pending funding availability.”
Hanamaikai said that even if the future improvements to Highway 101 relief underestimate car trips on Highway 227, the traffic relief work is still needed and would help.
For a review on the Highway 227 project, go to: bit.ly/3DaXlKj.
This story was originally published December 3, 2021 at 12:00 PM.
%20Cropped.jpg)