NO MORE … BLINKING … LIGHTS
Editor’s introduction: As soon as I started reading Fisher’s story, an ’80s McCartney ballad, a true earworm, came to mind. Instead of No More Lonely Nights, no more blinking lights. See if you can’t get that out of your head now.
Roundabout, rotary, traffic circle – no matter what you call it, you can expect one to come to Mammoth soon.
On Wednesday, The Mammoth Town Council voted to award a contract to design a roundabout at the intersection between Minaret Road and Meridian Boulevard. The traffic signals at the intersection are currently set to a permanent flashing red because they are too expensive to fix.
“Though the traffic levels at the intersection are generally acceptable, it still presents safety concerns,” Amy Callanan, Mammoth Engineering Manager, wrote in a staff report.
Public Works Director Haislip Hayes said the construction is part of a more significant grant funding request anticipated in coming years.
He brought up the roundabout concept during a CIP update in a Council meeting last month. The approved budget allocated $220,000 to the project.
Those dollars go towards getting the project “shovel ready” so that Hayes can apply for $180,000 in grant funding from the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) to complete it.
STIP funding is awarded biannually in even-numbered years, so the next funding cycle concludes in 2026. A couple of years ago, Hayes did a public service report that got the project lined up for funding, he said.
At the last meeting, Andy Morris, the Mammoth Town Attorney, chimed in on the discussion as a Truckee resident. Truckee has 12 roundabouts, and Morris is a fan of the idea.
“They work because people come into them, and if they don’t know how they work, they slow down,” Morris said.
That prompted hesitation from Councilmember Amanda Rice, who questioned whether Bay Area drivers are better or worse than Southern California drivers. Morris responded, “You can’t break a roundabout with a car,” whereas an errant driver can take out a traffic light.
This roundabout is not to be confused with the one envisioned in the Snowcreek VIII master plan, which, if constructed, would mediate the intersection between Old Mammoth Road and Minaret.
