by Dennis Dalman
Henry Smorynski of Sartell is not happy about the roundabouts planned for Pinecone Road improvements.
Smorynski, who lives on 2nd Street S., addressed the Sartell City Council March 9 during the Open Forum segment of the council meeting.
The city engineer and staff are planning to build three roundabouts this summer on Pinecone Road, with as many as six more potential roundabouts on that road during the next 30 or 40 years (see related story in today’s paper).
Smorynski said he agrees roundabouts can reduce serious-injury accidents, but in areas of high-volume traffic, such as Pinecone Road, roundabouts are not the solution, he added.
“They are not necessary or productive,” he said.
A roundabout at 2nd Street S. and Pinecone would be especially bad, he maintained, because there are so many businesses, traffic and pedestrians at that intersection. The speed along Pinecone, he said, might have to be reduced because drivers, in their impatience, might tend to want to speed through the roundabouts instead of slow down as they are supposed to do.
He said the same problem will likely happen for the roundabout where Heritage Drive meets CR 133.