How could the loop be "too tight to navigate safely" on a scooter, when it is not too tight for a car? Maybe you need to slow down. Circles are great for slowing traffic. As someone who lives in this neighborhood, I am happy to see it.

if you slow your scooter down it couldn't possibly be "too tight", if a car can make it through so can you.

Actually, it's already made me feel safer. We had a lot of speeding before the roundabout, and since visibility was pretty bad (and harder to judge since people did 60-70mph 'cause they could) turning onto W. Park right there, I had a bunch of near misses. I'm all for a second circle in your neighborhood, but I hope my gratitude and relief helps you let go of your fury.

Heres a thought about speeders - cops doing their jobs and ticketing! I will say I have seen a slight improvement in the past few months but it still needs to get better.

If cops gave more tickets for illegal driving, then drivers would start obeying the laws more. I have driven in CT, NY, MA and NJ and CT drivers are the worst! Why? Because they know there is no consequences to their dangerous driving habits.

Traffic circles are counter-intuitive. They can feel chaotic and unsafe, but people tend to enter them much more slowly and cautiously than intersections with traffic lights. So in that respect, they're safer -- you almost never get the sort of catastrophic, full-speed accident you get when someone blows a red light.

Route 80 has had a roundabout ever since I can remember and it works quite well. My private opinion is that they save energy, save waiting, save maintenance and prevent long lines of traffic.

@E: I'd much prefer to design safer roads than devote precious (and costly!) police resources to this problem.

Even if you increase police presence, at best they'll be there a tiny percentage of the time. If you redesign the road to discourage speeding, it slows traffic all the time.

I encourage you to take a drive down Townsend Avenue in the Annex to see how this works. Cars used to fly by just a few feet away from children playing, but the traffic circles and other calming measures that have been put in place there make speeding all but impossible.

It would be nice if the work would be finished on this so that there is not a huge bump when entering and exiting this circle. It has been sitting unfinished for over 30 days.

Although I agree that traffic at this intersection has a history of exceeding speed limits and safety, i have to believe that city money would have been better spent on a stop sign.

Yes, traffic circles feel chaotic and counterintuitive and most people enter them cautiously. But that's just until they "get used" to them. I now live out of state, where they have been steadily installing these blasted traffic circles for years. Some of the worst accidents that i've seen occur in traffic circles.

And just wait until the plows try to move through them! All those beautiful stone curbs they just installed will be reduced to gravel in no time at all.

There is already an issue on this: http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/252

Roundabouts like these provide safe and efficient traffic flow and make use of extensive safety and traffic research conducted over the past 25 years. Studies by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) show that roundabouts provide a 90% reduction in fatal crashes and a 76% reduction in injury crashes. Other studies show that roundabouts prevent over 95% of crash fatalities (which is actually a different # from the # of fatal crashes) and virtually eliminate head on collisions.

I think you guys are missing the point! I completely AGREE with roundabouts/circles.

My anger is that one was installed in an area that didn't necessarily need it. Regardless of the problems there - speeding is a problem all throughout CT. Not just that street. Yet West Park gets attention first?! Please! The money to build it should have gone where its most necessary - a pecking order.

W.Elm/Forest has WAY more issues then West Park will ever have (speeding, winter issues, blind spots, backups, near collisions, etc - all in one small spot) and they attend to West Park first?!?!?! Give me a break!

This is VERY disturbing!

i completely agree with uncle egg and mark. the more traffic circles and other traffic calming measures in new haven, the better.

Again Juli, I agree - but the attention should go to worse areas first!

The traffic circle is installed and, on balance, the neighborhood has been highly receptive.

Please install more!