9.06.2007

Really Bad Idea

... from Carmel's mayor, of whom I'm not a fan:

Roundabouts on Keystone

The man's gone roundabout-crazy. For those of you not from 'round these parts, Keystone Avenue is a major thoroughfare- a four-lane divided highway where cars typically travel 50-60 mph. A roundabout is a road construct that replaces a stop sign, causing cars to yield but not necessarily stop. The logistics of this project will be interesting, at the very least.

Just last month, another idea of his came under scrutiny: Commissioning paintings of past Carmel mayors for $20,000, a move that critics quickly saw through as self-serving. That, on top of his decision to spend millions more dollars on a limestone facade for the already-too-expensive performing arts center, because stucco just isn't good enough. He's working on raising money for that, as well as money to put marble floors in the center, because carpet or tile doesn't have the right prestige. Can you tell I've been a little bit frustrated with our mayor's priorities?

Well, I'll be moving out of Carmel by just a couple miles in a few months- but not too soon to vote against him in the election! Not that it will matter- he won the Republican primary for mayor, and a democrat doesn't win any elections in this county, ever. Alas.

Like I said, I'm moving.

2 comments:

RetroBrett said...

I generally fall towards the Republican side of the political spectrum but I'm not exactly a Brainard fan. Though I admit I can't exactly say why that's the case. I'm sure the increasing Carmel debt has something to do with that.

As for the Keystone roundabouts, I'm not convinced they're a bad idea. These aren't the stereotypical, tiny roundabouts we've had around here for years (though, for some reason, people still don't know how to use them). Rather, these are large-scale bridge-like constructions that should allow those drivers that are turning off/onto Keystone to do so without disturbing the general traffic flow for those going straight.

Per Brainard:

Only the traffic that's going east and west, or getting on or off Keystone would use the roundabout. If you're just going through on Keystone, you would not go through the roundabout

I certainly don't look forward to the actual construction but I'm excited to not be stuck in Keystone traffic which, all too often, involves stopping for the next stoplight almost immediately after you pass the previous stoplight.

ashley said...

We had these - we call them ovalos - all over Peru. We lived near one that did what I think Brett is saying - if you were going straight, you took the tunnel underneath the ovalo. If you were turning right or left, then you'd get on the ovalo. Of course, if it's a traditional ovalo then I think it would just snarl traffic. :-)

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