Better options than roundabout

Editor: I continue to be baffled by the City Council’s unswerving resolve to build a roundabout at the five corners area. This project has been in the works for 10 years. It has been pointed out by several that a better, less disruptive, and simpler means of achieving smooth traffic flow into and out of our city would be to add a southbound 101 freeway entrance on Westside Road, and a northbound exit off Westside Road.
Ironically the ramp for the southbound freeway entrance appears to be already in place. A northbound exit would take most all of the big truck traffic off Healdsburg Avenue, as it routinely seems to run westbound on Westside Road after leaving the stop light at the five corners intersection.
Admittedly there may be a need to acquire part of a small parcel adjacent to the freeway for the northbound exit. I believe that would still be a cost effective means of achieving smooth traffic flow into Healdsburg.
Why does the council feel it is important to change the five points intersection? When the bridge is open it does function properly. Who is complaining? The council might recall another traffic fix they made on Foss Creek Circle to accommodate a trucking firm, which really screwed things up. Fortunately, the one way was rescinded after a few traffic accidents and is back to functioning properly.
I asked to see the drawing of the proposed roundabout and spent several minutes with the City Engineer. For my own edification I scaled the data and superimposed a 60-foot trailer on the roundabout lane. If a truck driver stayed exactly in the center of that lane there would be about two feet of clearance to the exterior of the lane and the center of the 60 foot trailer would be tangent to the interior circle. I was told the inner circle was to be paved differently than the traffic lane, and that it was there to give the trucks more room for turning error. A good idea.
By any measure there are more cars in Healdsburg now. The Chamber of Commerce, businesses and the various city councils have done an outstanding job in making Healdsburg a tourist destination. We are now reaping the results of what they have accomplished.
I believe there is a safety issue in getting the larger fire trucks through a roundabout, especially when it is full of vehicles. The oversized loads of heavy duty equipment would also have considerable difficulty there.
The proposed pedestrian crosswalks at the roundabout have no means of stopping the traffic on any of the five roads. That means tourists (who are often engrossed in their cell phones) must enter the crosswalks and hope the oncoming traffic is paying more attention, and we must hope the drivers will do the same. That situation looks like a potential city of Healdsburg lawsuit in the making.
An experienced freeway engineer who overheard my conversation with the city engineer suggested that any solution to the five points intersection which is unpalatable will cause northbound truck drivers to exit the freeway at Dry Creek Road and re-enter the freeway heading south so they can exit at Westside Road. That would put considerably more pressure on an already congested intersection.
Also, it was not apparent how the city would stop roundabout traffic in the event a train was coming through town.
I have spoken with a few truckers regarding using a roundabout. They feel that it would be necessary to slow considerably prior to entering the roundabout. Obviously that reduces traffic flow.
There are other options for making smoother traffic flow than spending the money and building something of questionable value. I will be happy to explore other ideas with the council.
John K. Murphy
Healdsburg