Morro Bay considers roundabout for key intersection — and many residents aren’t happy

The intersection of Main Street, Highway 1 and Highway 41 in Morro Bay is known for traffic delays — especially during Morro Bay High School’s morning commute.

“(Students) struggle to cross that intersection,” Morro Bay Public Works Director Greg Kwolek said. “They feel like they’re playing Frogger.”

Right now, the intersection features a stop sign with a flashing light.

But the city is looking to replace that with a traffic signal or a roundabout to improve the flow of traffic, according to GHD Inc. Consulting project manager John Rogers, who works with the city.

The intersection is a collision hot-spot in Morro Bay, with 23 recorded crashes during the past five years, according to Rogers — and that figure doesn’t consider near misses.

“I rode through that intersection on a bike when I was a freshman in high school, and the seniors did not yield for me,” Rogers said at a city meeting on Wednesday, prompting a burst of laughter from the audience.

Meanwhile, the Morro Bay Boulevard intersection only had nine collisions during the past five years, Rogers said. It’s a high-traffic area like the Main Street intersection, but it has a roundabout instead.

“They might actually have more (traffic) volume over there, but it’s controlled a little better — so it seems to be a little safer on that side of town,” Rogers said.

On Wednesday at 6 p.m., city staff gave a presentation at the Morro Bay Community Center on what it would take to install a traffic signal or a roundabout at the intersection, while giving community members a chance to ask questions and share their concerns about the project.

“We want to get as much feedback as we possibly can,” Morro Bay Public Works Director Greg Kwolek said at the meeting.

About 50 people attended the meeting, including Morro Bay City Council members and SLO County Supervisor Bruce Gibson, who represents the city on the Board of Supervisors.

Traffic signal or roundabout?

A traffic signal would be cheaper to build, but a roundabout would direct traffic through the intersection more efficiently, Rogers said.

The price tag for a traffic signal is $4 million to $6 million, while a roundabout would cost $8 million to $12 million to build, according to Rogers.

The San Luis Obispo County Council of Governments pledged to contribute funding to either project, but would give more for the roundabout — promising to donate $2 million to $3 million for the traffic signal and $5 million to $9 million for the roundabout.

Though stoplights are cheaper to install, they come with a monthly electricity bill of about $100, according to Caltrans representative Paul Valadão.

The traffic signal would create a more predictable flow of traffic with “defined signal cycles,” Rogers said, but folks will have to wait longer to cross the intersection if they hit a red light.

Traffic signals also create more opportunities for traffic conflicts, according to Rogers.

“There’s a lot of turns: you’re turning left, you’re turning right, you’re turning right on red, pedestrians might be crossing at the wrong time,” Rogers said.

Roundabouts create a smoother flow of traffic, according to Rogers.

“The roundabout alternative would move cars through with less delay,” Rogers said. “There’s less traffic conflicts than a signal, you’re only turning right into a roundabout, so pedestrian crossing would only have to look one direction.”

Numerous residents at the meeting said they preferred the traffic signal, mostly for student safety.

One mother of a Morro Bay student said she notices that students congregate at the stop sign, “wandering, not really paying attention,” and then drivers race through the stop sign to avoid waiting for the students to cross the street.

She said she’s worried that folks will drive even faster through a roundabout, making it difficult for students to cross safely. She said a red light on a traffic signal is a safer alternative for crossing the street.

Kwolek said the city can protect pedestrians by placing a crosswalk further away from the roundabout, and also by adding landscaping between the sidewalk and the roundabout as sort of a buffer area.

The roundabout also could be safer for pedestrians, as the average speed through a roundabout is about 15 mph, but the average speed through a green light is 40 mph, Rogers said.

“People are driving slower so accidents happen less. There’s more time to make a decision,” Rogers said.

Other residents said they preferred the traffic signal because it’s cheaper to build.

Kwolek, however, said it will be easier to get grant funding for the roundabout because it reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

“State and local agencies want to support those kinds of projects,” Kwolek said.

SLOCOG transportation planner John DiNunzio agreed — noting that a roundabout keeps cars driving and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

“Sitting in your car idling, even if it’s 10 seconds or 30 seconds, that adds on cumulatively over the year,” DiNunzio said. “There is a lot of money to incentive greenhouse gas reduction type programs and congestion mitigation.”

Morro Bay expects traffic to get worse at the intersection as the city’s population increases, with a new hotel and affordable housing projects in the works.

A roundabout may be better equipped to handle the steady growth of traffic, Rogers said.

He pointed to two other SLO County intersections that are seeing more cars on the road, and the existing traffic signals aren’t doing enough to manage the flow of traffic.

The first is in Arroyo Grande at the intersection of Highway 101, Brisco Road and West Branch Street. The second is in Paso Robles at Highway 101, Highway 46 and Ramada Drive.

Arroyo Grande and Paso Robles are looking for funding to upgrade the intersections with roundabouts to accommodate more traffic, Rogers said.

With this in mind — if Morro Bay installs a traffic signal, they may need to upgrade to a roundabout later.

The Morro Bay City Council will discuss which project to pursue at its meeting on June 13. Ultimately, the council members will decide if the intersection should have a traffic signal or a roundabout.

Folks can also share their thoughts at a Morro Bay Student Senate meeting on May 2, or a Morro Bay Public Works Advisory Board meeting on May 17.