A group of young adults huddled over a massive vinyl mat at the Shoreline Teen Center, in the suburb north of Seattle, on a recent afternoon. The mat displayed a life-sized artist’s rendering of the city’s new 145th Street roundabouts, which direct traffic through the corridor as well as onto freeway ramps.
A debate quickly broke out between three people holding toy cars and kneeling on the map. They were discussing a common point of confusion: Do drivers need to use a turn signal when entering a roundabout?
After a brief back-and-forth, they hit on the correct answer. According to state guidelines, drivers do not need to signal when entering the intersection, but they should use their right turn signal immediately before exiting.
This is the kind of discussion Shoreline's roundabout project manager, Cory Nau, wants people to have.
The City of Shoreline is helping local drivers navigate two new roundabouts. While the Washington State Department of Transportation reports nearly 200 roundabouts on state highways, until recently they were nonexistent on local Shoreline streets. So city officials are finding creative ways to educate drivers.
The two-lane, circular structures are located at either end of the I-5 overpass along NE 145th Street. The entire 145th Street project is estimated to cost the city about $44 million. Nau leads the team tasked with redesigning the intersection. He admits that roundabouts were not initially a top choice, but the data overwhelmingly favored the design.
"It was a much safer option for both pedestrians and traffic,” Nau said. “You don’t really get fatal collisions in roundabouts. It’s a pretty rare thing."
These big intersections are different from small neighborhood traffic circles. The roundabouts are designed to accommodate large transit buses and freight trucks, and they legally require all entering traffic to yield to vehicles already inside the circle.
To help get the word out about this new kind of intersection in Shoreline, the city took the unusual step of deploying a mobile driving simulator — the car equivalent of a flight simulator. Drivers can practice steering around virtual pedestrians and commercial trucks. The city has taken the simulator to high schools, community events and gathering spaces and the local senior center. It even let construction workers on the project give the simulator a try.
People have strong opinions about roundabouts. At a dog park not too far from 145th Street, Mike Rush expressed support for the change but is frustrated by how other drivers use them.
"They’ll come in, they’ll stop, instead of taking their turn,” Rush said. “You’ve just got to get up there, see what’s there, and go."
Kenton Bolte, who lives near the 145th Street corridor, is skeptical that these roundabouts will be able to manage the traffic.
"Everybody wants to go east on 145th and it’s just a constant nose-to-tail line of traffic," Bolte said. "Getting in is next to impossible."
Nau hopes initiatives like the simulator will help address some of that public anxiety, especially as the 145th Street project won't be the last test for local motorists. The city has confirmed plans for several more roundabouts in future capital projects.
The city has made it a priority to take the simulator to multiple community gathering places, such as the senior center and high schools, as well as the construction site, so the workforce can use it.
I tried the simulator, which was tricky at first. You have to steer your way around pedestrians and big trucks. And I made some mistakes. I drove off the virtual road. I even hit a virtual pedestrian — not pretty, and especially embarrassing to do in front of Shoreline city officials.
But after a couple tries, the simulator got a lot easier; I was able to merge and drive smoothly.
As for the real-life roundabouts, I was able to drive around them just fine.
And Nau said that is the whole point: "People who were really hesitant got to experience the roundabout simulator and they feel a lot more comfortable with it."
