Traffic circles are only as dangerous as the drivers that use them. Payson residents will eventually adapt to using the circles we do have and for them, the circles won’t represent too great of a challenge.
Non-residents in a hurry to transit through town however, are less likely to be enamored of our traffic circles. That population segment already has trouble with established traffic controls. I wouldn’t encourage confusing them further by constructing more circles.
That said, we truly do not need any more traffic circles. The small circles found in neighborhoods are a nuisance, but somewhat tolerable albeit far more costly than stop signs.
The plan to introduce more circles along the 87 and 260 corridors won’t improve matters any though and the thought that adding a circle at the intersection of Highway 87 and Highway 260 is just plain brain-dead.
An intersection in Europe with that much traffic would have a circle at least twice the size proposed.
There simply isn’t the area at the 87 and 260 intersection to construct a circle that wouldn’t hamper rather than improve traffic flow.
I’ve seen some tremendously large special loads get trucked through that intersection. I doubt that such loads could transit a circle, especially if the circle had landscaping in the center.
I don’t personally encourage the construction of any more circles, either on highways or neighborhoods.
Unfortunately, the highways are under the auspices of government agencies, not local residents; and government being what it is, there may be precious little attention paid to our concerns.