»Going 'round in circles no more

The traffic circles will go away.
Alleluia.

Addendum: Bay City News, The San Francisco Examiner, and the San Francisco Chronicle all ran something along these lines:


A traffic-control experiment that had Haight-Ashbury residents driving in circles has been halted.

The Department of Parking and Traffic ended its test of traffic circles on Page and Waller streets this week after the idea collided with opposition from neighbors, the Fire Department, and pedestrian safety and disability rights organizations.

The department took out stop signs in August and installed temporary traffic circles at five intersections on Page and one on Waller Street. The idea was to encourage bicycling, improve air quality and slow speeders.

Earlier this year, the department sent ballots to residents within a block of the intersections asking them whether to keep the traffic circles or bring back the four-way stops. None of the circles received the majority vote needed.

"It wasn't close,'' said department spokeswoman Bridget Smith.
©2004 San Francisco Chronicle