High Enterprise reports:
City officials opened Monday a roundabout touted as one of the first people-friendly ideas of the Ignite High Point initiative.
The oval-shaped mass of concrete and what will become lawn grass at the intersection of W. Parkway Avenue, N. Lindsay Street, N. Elm Street and Hillcrest Drive replaces a traffic signal and is designed to make the area more pedestrian friendly by slowing down vehicles. For weeks, drivers endured detours and blocked streets. With the streets open, city officials are looking for an efficient flow of traffic.
“There are more things to come,” said Richard Wood, City Project board chairman. “We are looking at how to uplift the library plaza to make it more green.”
Funny the HPE didn’t mention the High Point Central High School marching band’s role in the celebration. As a former band geek myself, I’ll testify that a marching band will seize any opportunity to show off its high-step.
As you can probably imagine, the John Locke Foundation has been all over roundabouts for years —take your pick— but I’ll recommend this Meck Deck classic from 2005. Based on projections made then, it looks like High Pointers still have a few years left to figure out how roundabouts function.
I’ll also point you to the reader comments — usually a reasonable sample of public opinion. One resident says “the fanfare dedicated to this afternoon’s opening hardly seemed applicable to what is supposedly an ‘International City.’ Feels more like Mayberry.”
