Grand Island: Roundabouts touted for traffic safety

Article and Photos by Karen Carr Keefe

Senior Contributing Writer

A pair of roundabouts – not a four-way stop – are the newest solution suggested for the intersection near Kaegebein School where a 13-year-old girl was fatally injured while trying to cross the road.

Bill Daniels lost his granddaughter, Leah Mayer, to that accident at Broadway and South State Parkway on Sept. 11, 2024.

Daniels, who organized a public meeting on traffic safety Saturday at the Grand Island Memorial Library, has favored a four-way stop at the intersection. But he said the state Department of Transportation, which owns the parkway, wouldn’t go for it.

Instead, based on its own study that included the fatal accident, the DOT installed advanced safety measures this summer. These include pedestrian islands, new pavement markings and signage. The traffic light flashes red in one direction and yellow in the other on Broadway.

Daniels said the state’s safety upgrades stop short of what is needed for vehicle and pedestrian safety there.

“They said the traffic on Broadway was not sufficient to justify it; there’s more than enough to traffic on South Parkway to justify a four-way stop,” Daniels said of the DOT’s conclusions. “They said even if it is justified, (they) don’t have to do it.”

“A four-way stop, it’s up to their discretion. Even if someone got killed. Even though there’s been two crashes within 30 days, it doesn’t matter,” Daniels claimed.

Town Board candidate Wayne West introduced the idea of the roundabouts at Saturday’s meeting, saying that would be the safest and most cost-effective alternative. He had discussed the idea of roundabouts – or traffic circles – with Daniels prior to the meeting, and Daniels now favors the idea.

Safety upgrades have been made by the state Department of Transportation at the intersection of Broadway and South State Parkway following a fatal accident on Sept. 11, 2024.

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“We want to take back the streets of Grand Island for Grand Island,” West said. He and some other attendees suggested that town – rather than state – ownership of the parkway could enable greater safety at a reduced cost. West added that roundabouts should be eligible for federal funding assistance.

One attendee, comparing the state’s safety upgrades to the new idea of the roundabouts, said it was too bad the changes weren’t done right the first time. West asked, “What can we do to make this right?”

West, who teaches a safe driving course on the Island, said the potential for traffic fatalities could be reduced by 95% if two traffic circles were built along the stretch of parkway from Love Road to Broadway.

He said the section of the parkway near Kaegebein has several speed changes, which can be confusing to motorists. He said excessive speed is the key factor in how bad a crash is going to be. The other factor he cited is the size and weight of the vehicle.

West described his proposed solution as “a barbell,” with two traffic circles, at Love Road and Broadway, and the straight line of the parkway between them. He said a traffic circle reduces the possible contact points for vehicle crashes from 32 down to eight, and crashes involving pedestrians from 24 potential contact points down to eight.

“It provides you a safe haven as you’re walking across, with less space and time for a pedestrian to be in harm’s way,” West said.

He noted a four-way stop light currently costs between $300,000 and $500,000. Maintaining a traffic light is perpetual, West said: “You’re paying for that year after year.”

Grand Island resident Linda Zindle, Daniels’ sister, said some work the state has already done at the intersection would reduce the new costs of converting to a four-way stop signal. She also pointed out that many motorists find a roundabout confusing and don’t know the rules of who has the right of way.

The meeting was attended by a dozen people, including local officials: Supervisor Peter Marston, Erie County Legislator Michael Kooshoian, and Rob Ratajczak, representative for state Assemblyman Angelo Morinello.

Marston pointed out that the town has a Traffic Safety Advisory Board. But he said Grand Island struggles to solve some traffic issues, such as a proposal to lower the speed limit in the town center. He said sometimes the official manual doesn’t have the answer.

“Let’s put the book down and let’s talk about common sense,” he said.

Jurisdiction can be a challenge in other parts of town, too, when trying to make the roads safe.

“A big problem here is they’re not our roads,” Marston said of the state and county roads on Grand Island.

Daniels said about 2,000 people signed the petition to get a study done on the Broadway/parkway intersection.

He asked the meeting attendees, “Would people be interested in getting a petition for a roundabout?”

Marston responded with the idea of taking the parkway designation away from the South State Parkway and making it a two-lane road, with the roundabout, to reduce speeding and enhance safety. Daniels suggested a pedestrian sanctuary be part of the crossing at the intersections near Kaegebein School.

Daniels’ mission is to resolve the South State Parkway problem.

“Before somebody else gets killed, let’s do something,” he said.

“How much is somebody’s life worth?”