The Healdsburg traffic circle

Photo: Paul Kuroda

Traffic circles are all the rage now in planning circles, but are they really helpful with traffic? Not clear at all, even here in Progressive Land where bike lanes and other such fads dominate the discussion about the "improvements" City Hall imposes on its citizens.

A traffic circle the city created at the Steiner/McCallister intersection had to be removed recently after it worked so poorly locals objected. 

The one at McAllister and Lyon is still there, apparently permanent without those fatal flaws, though it surely has a minimal affect on traffic at a not-very-busy intersection. (And the pathetic plants in the middle of the circle look unlikely to survive much longer.)

The huge new traffic circle in downtown Healdsburg is much too big to ever be eliminated, but its impact on local businesses during construction has been significant (see also this).

Hard to know if that project was really necessary, though pre-circle it always seemed easy to get downtown Healdsburg to patronize that fine bakery on the town square. 

Like many such city departments---including San Francisco's---whatever Healdsburg's Planning Dept. does to city streets is by definition an "improvement"!

The Sunday SF Chronicle's travel section, devoted entirely to Healdsburg, has a happy-talk account of the circle---all's well that ends well! Except for the small businesses that didn't survive during its construction. 

The same writer, a local resident, contributes an approving account of Healdsburg's tweeness during its relentless gentrification: What’s up with the fairy doors all around Healdsburg? 

Alas, this cutesy curse has also infected San Francisco. Do nauseating tweeness and gentrification go together? We need an ordinance to stop this crap.