This appeared in the Times Daily letters to the editor. The writer makes a good point about the businesses there suffering. Some really good businesses in the area ran by really good folks, and I hope that an equitable solution can be found to appease their concerns while the roundabout is being built.
But I have to take issue with the writer saying you have to be an expert driver and implying they are difficult to learn. I have lived in this area my whole life and in traveling I have ran into many roundabouts and never had an issue learning them or proceeding through them. In fact, I have found them to be of great ease and definitely made the area's traffic less congested.
On the contrary, the way the traffic is now is a nightmare and it seems most people are perplexed when approaching the area and that leads to some tense and dangerous situations.
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A traffic round is a very bad idea at the intersection of Huntsville Road and Royal Avenue, and I shall endeavor to clue you in. First of all, my Aunt Suzy told me that in order to put one in, it will take about a three block area with nothing around it that will impede it being done.
The businesses close to the construction will not be accessible to patrons; drivers will not be allowed to enter that area while the site is under consideration; numerous traffic studies will take considerable time all day and night. Get the picture?
If at all even interested, Google it on your computer. I did, and you will simply be awed at just what it takes to do this. To learn the ins and outs will take an expert driver over a period of several months to adjust from this junction being the way it has been.
So, to Florence City Councilman David Bradley and City Engineer Bill Batson, if neither of you have experience driving in one of these “rounds,” either take a trip to Europe to study theirs, or to maybe New York.
Think real hard as to what you are about to do. Hold several driving courses to get the gist of how they are supposed to work, and be on site when it is open and witness the first mess-up.
Joe Fairer
Muscle Shoals