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Showing posts from August, 2017

Vivent Les Plages!

  As published in Seven Days, August 23, 2017 : Vivent Les Plages! Winooski as Brooklyn [" Working Winooski ," August 2]? With walk-up building heights, francophone roots, a developed riverfront and a giant traffic gyratory, Petite Rive Droite could be an even cheekier nickname. That gyratory, though, is definitely not a "roundabout." True modern roundabouts have essential characteristics that the cumbersome Winooski circulating roadway fails to meet, including no traffic signals and a small central island that is inaccessible to pedestrians. By comparison, the inexpensive circle near Best Buy in Williston offers a glimpse at how simple a roundabout can be. Both circles demonstrate that gyratory traffic control can get the job done even with less-than-excellent engineering. In the other Rive Droite, Winooski would find inspiration on how to eliminate cars, restore vibrant pedestrian spaces and replace traffic signals — as well as the circulating roadway — with true