EDITORIAL | Mini-circle at Bellows St. and Arnold St. does little besides spend taxpayer money
The recently-completed mini-circle at the intersection of Bellows and Arnold streets is a large drain of public funds and largely an ineffective addition.
As a part of the initiative to make the city more pedestrian-friendly, Mount Pleasant Director of Public Works Duane Ellis said the city has spent nearly $100,000 reducing Bellows to two lanes and adding parking and bike lanes. The mini-circle at Arnold has accounted for about $13,000 of this.
Ellis said the goal of the mini-circle is to slow down traffic as it the road becomes two lanes.
However, the small concrete circle in the middle of the road barely causes traffic to curve, and the actual required slow-down to continue driving is minimal.
Also in question is the selection of this intersection. The intersection with Arnold Street, a small residential street running from Bellows to Gaylord Street a tenth of a mile north, is hardly a high-traffic area.
If the idea is to reduce a four-lane road to a two-lane road, this could have been done easily at the intersection of Mission Street some 400 feet east. Changing the right westbound lane into a left turn only lane at the stoplight would essentially render the mini-circle useless.
An unnecessary addition to the street would not be an issue were it not so costly. When the road had to be widened so large trucks could fit through, $2,500 was added to the cost of the project.
Bellows was hardly the least “pedestrian-friendly” or traffic-heavy area in the city, either. The majority of Mission is still a dangerous area, not to mention the dreaded intersection of East Campus Drive and Preston Street just south of the intersection in question.
When there are so many traffic and pedestrian concerns in Mount Pleasant, why spend so much money on an area that was little to no concern?
