By KRIS HILL
The Reporter
A pair of new roundabouts are done in Covington, and drivers will likely spend a fair amount of time going around them as they are in high-traffic areas.
“This is a beautiful way to do them,” said the city’s public works director, Glenn Akramoff. “It’s pretty typical in Europe and on the East Coast to do them the way we’ve done them. They’re not high-speed and they’ve been done in succession.”
First is the roundabout at the intersection of 180th Street Southeast and Wax Road, near the MultiCare Clinic. The reason the city wanted to put a roundabout there (it was in the works for more than two years) was to deal with the odd angles at which the streets meet and a fifth leg that’s been added to the intersection.
A second roundabout on 168th Place Southeast, near the Fred Meyer store, also recently opened. It is home to the new community holiday tree, which was installed on Oct. 14 by a crew from Big Trees Nursery in Snohomish. The 24-foot tree came Big Trees.
“We have a lot of different conflicts in the intersection, so it just helps traffic flow in the business area,” Akramoff said. “Plus it keeps traffic flowing rather than people sitting at a traffic light.”
Another roundabout. south of the Fred Meyer and closer to the neighboring Costco store, opened on Oct. 16 along with Costco.
While roundabouts aren’t as common in this area, they are becoming a popular alternative to traffic lights for cities for a number of reasons. Studies show they are safer, cheaper to operate and maintain, and better for the environment.
A standard four-way intersection, for example, has 32 points of conflict for cars and pedestrians, while a roundabout has eight points which are separated from one another. Roundabouts force drivers to slow down to about 15 miles per hour. This comes in handy during the winter months in a city that is prone to power outages.
It may take some adjustment for drivers, but Akramoff thinks Covington residents can handle the new roundabouts – particularly because they aren’t the city’s first. A small one off Southeast 272nd on the north side of the street behind the Walgreen’s and Mieko’s Fitness stores was the city’s first-ever roundabout.
Staff writer Kris Hill can be reached at (425) 432-1209 (extension 5054) and khill@reporternewspapers.com
