HUTTO - A low-budget solution to a downtown traffic problem is causing anxiety for some Hutto drivers.
In October, three mini traffic circles were installed to support traffic flow between a newly constructed neighborhood and the historic area of downtown. With an eight-foot interior width and barely a few inches tall, the circles could easily be overlooked if not for the single traffic cone set in the middle. They are located at the intersections of Main Street and Liberty Street, East Street and Hutto Street, and East Street and Live Oak Street.
Much of the confusion stems from the significant difference between a traffic-calming circle and a round-about. In a round-about, all traffic proceeds counter-clockwise. All traffic entering the intersection turns to the right, and a driver who intends to go left travels three-quarters of the way around the circle.
In a traffic calming circle, according to the Federal Highway Administration, drivers intending to turn left at the intersection do actually turn left, not right. This can lead to left-turning drivers meeting right-turning drivers face-to-face on the narrow street.
Hutto resident Ginger Dean says she has narrowly avoided accidents while driving downtown. “The streets through Old Town are not very wide; I can see someone running off the road trying to maneuver around the circle. The signs also indicate to make a left into oncoming traffic. I thought all traffic was to move the right. This will only work if people yield 10 feet from the intersection. I’ve also had people not yield. I’ve been almost t-boned,” Dean said.
The city posted a video showing people how to navigate around the mini traffic circles. According to the video, the circles are traffic-calming devices that encourage drivers to proceed cautiously through small intersections. The video has been viewed over 7,000 times and garnered more than 100 comments from viewers. Like Dean, many proclaimed the mini circles “an accident waiting to happen” and stated “that’s not how traffic circles work” due to the left-turn instructions.
Nevertheless, according to city communications and public information officer Allison Strupeck, there have not been any collisions or issues reported at the mini traffic circles.
“Overall drivers seem to understand the concepts of ‘first to arrive goes first’ and ‘yield to the right’ concepts, similar to what they’d do at a 4-way stop. That said, safety is the priority, and we will continue to study the impact of these traffic-calming devices before determining their longterm viability.”
At approximately $4,000 each, the mini traffic circles did not require a traffic study to complete, so the city was able to construct them quickly and relatively affordably as an alternative to more extensive traffic options. The city is currently evaluating other measures as part of the downtown traffic plan, and the traffic circles may be enhanced, beautified, modified or removed as part of the overall plan, depending on how well they work.
At a city council meeting, City Manager James Earp explained the future of the circles is based on their effectiveness once Public Works measures the traffic volume and flow.
“I’ve seen some of the clever comments online, and it’s been good for a chuckle,” Earp said. “But the purpose of these mini circles is to calm traffic. It’s not really about traffic circulation. And if people are slowing down and kind of pausing and yielding then that’s what we were hoping they would do.
