OBSERVER Photo

We have been down this road before in northern Chautauqua County. South of the state border, in Warren County, Pa., motorists’ worries are in high gear when it comes to the opening of a roundabout at a major thoroughfare in the city.

PennDOT started its third phase of work last week on the project at Pennsylvania Avenue and Market Street in Warren that — like every other traffic circle — is surrounded with controversy. Rarely do community residents embrace the change.

So much consternation has been heard in recent months in the city there over the border that local transportation officials held a meeting to educate drivers on navigating the pattern. “You yield to enter the roundabout but never stop inside the roundabout,” said Jill Harry, press officer for PennDOT — which is short for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation — during the session.

With construction set to be complete later in September, there are plenty of successes with roundabouts to be noted in Western New York. To be fair, most of these projects — similar to Warren County — came with plenty of apprehension.

Before New York state finished construction on the two-lane rotary at Routes 60 and 20 in the town of Pomfret, meetings were held seeking community input at the Fredonia Opera House in 2018. While residents and area elected officials were allowed to offer their sentiments of opposition, it did little to discourage the Department of Transportation’s plans.

Simply put at that time – as it is today – safety is the driving factor when considering these changes at dangerous and busy intersections. “You do not have opposing traffic, you don’t go head on against opposing traffic or give them the right angle for a T-bone type situation,” said Sanjay Singh, DOT project manager in 2018. “That’s why roundabouts are safer.”

Before the circle, the highly congested Routes 60 and 20 intersection was notorious for car accidents and, during busy times, extended waits for motorists. Despite a yellow light signaling caution, motorists interpret it two very different ways. Some slow down, while others speed up to beat the red light.

Roundabouts take that decision out of the equation by forcing a calming of traffic. Wait times, without the traffic lights, also are greatly reduced.

In the city of Olean, downtown has been transformed by the traffic circles. Its highly traveled business district on North Union Street has four of the roundabouts, which makes downtown more pedestrian friendly while keeping traffic moving at a slower and safer pace. It also caters to the businesses along the strip.

One of the best maintained roundabouts in the region is just outside Irving on the Seneca Nation of Indians reservation. In its center are five flags, including one representing the Seneca Nation, as well as an excellent landscape.

Pomfret and state DOT officials have not finalized its plans for a centerpiece, though a statue has been considered for the location in the last two years. As for its maintenance, it cannot come close to comparing with the tidy location just outside Irving.

As for the newest roundabout in the region in Warren, construction is expected to be completed next month. At least one North Warren resident, in a commentary last week, gave his appreciation for the project.

“No one can deny the roundabout has changed that part of our downtown, probably more than one realizes,” wrote Don Scott. “This flies in the face of naysayers’ ‘if it ain’t broken’ kind of thinking.”

John D’Agostino is the editor of The Post-Journal, OBSERVER and Times Observer in Warren, Pa. Send comments to jdagostino@observertoday.com or call 716-487-1111, ext. 253.