Roundabouts on short list to improve traffic on Highway 68.

Grant Leonard, a transportation planner for the Transportation Agency for Monterey County, and Theresa Wright, the agency’s community outreach coordinator, are standing at the corner of Highway 68 and Corral de Tierra Road to talk roundabouts on a recent drizzly morning. A man nearby overhears and chimes in. Roundabouts, he says, will never work on Highway 68.

As cars and trucks loudly whiz by, Leonard and Wright listen to the man’s concerns, asking him for input into what he thinks would work to keep traffic – estimated at 25,000-30,000 vehicles a day – moving. The man (who declined to be identified) thinks more traffic signs for wayward tourists would help.

It’s a familiar refrain for TAMC officials, who face a change-wary public unfamiliar with roundabouts. They’re embarking on creating a plan to overhaul Highway 68 between Josselyn Canyon Road in Monterey and Torero Drive near Toro Park, and are seeking public participation in a survey through June 15.

Traffic during morning and evening rush hours on the two-lane road is slow. TAMC plans on using monies from Measure X, which Monterey County voters approved in November, combined with matching federal and state grants, to improve the flow of traffic and increase safety.

There are three concepts under consideration: Concept 1 includes transforming 11 intersections into roundabouts at a cost of $48 million; Concept 2 puts roundabouts at nine intersections and widens 6.4 miles of highway, costing $107.1 million; and Concept 3, with no roundabouts, would widen six intersections, install signals with timing mechanisms that adapt to traffic demands, and widen 1.15 miles, at a cost of $34.4 million.

State law requires transportation agencies to evaluate all intersections for performance, safety, emissions, initial and lifetime costs, Leonard says. They must also compare all methods of control, including roundabouts. Using computer models, planners can estimate how many collisions will occur with each method. They can also determine the types of collisions, their severity, and how many injuries and deaths might result.

Roundabouts, Leonard adds, outperform other forms of control across the board. Roundabout studies report fewer collisions for both vehicles and pedestrians. And because vehicles aren’t idling at stoplights, there are reduced emissions.

The initial cost of building roundabouts is higher than relying on controlled signals and widening, but roundabouts cost less long-term, Leonard says, since there is no equipment to maintain over time and fewer accidents to respond to.

The TAMC board is set to hear those three concepts at a June 28 board meeting (and vote on them in August). A lengthy approval process follows the June hearing, including opportunity for public comment. It could be between three-and-a-half to 10 years before building begins, Leonard and Wright say. Which means roundabouts won’t be appearing anytime soon.

Meanwhile, drivers will be getting used to a roundabout at the intersection of Highway 1 and Holman Highway, which is expected to be completed by fall of this year. Traffic lights at the construction site are scheduled to be removed this week. The center island could be completed by July 4, and it’s slated for repaving before Car Week in August. Finishing work and landscaping will take place into October.

Construction began last August and was supposed to take eight months, but winter rains delayed completion by three months.