Appleton is proposing to put a roundabout in front of Richmond Elementary School and Mead Pool. The city is claiming this controlled intersection is a high accident area, a speeding zone and the flow of traffic is routinely disrupted.

The safety of the kids crossing the street at that intersection during the school year and for the pool patrons that cross at that intersection during the summer has many people concerned.

Currently, the intersection is controlled with 3-way stop signs and a crossing guard. The intersection is safe and traffic is stopped effectively.

School children are dropped off safely immediately in the front of the school with plenty of room for drivers to signal and pull out safely into traffic.

The roundabout will limit visibility of drivers to be able to see the crossing guard and children crossing the intersection. It also prevents drivers further back from observing a stop is in progress.

The roundabout will remove the drop-off zone in front of the school. Richmond School would also lose about 10 parking spots in front of the school. This will force more congestion at the school since there will be less roadway surrounding the school to drop off or pick up children.

It also increases the risk of rear-end collisions as well. In a roundabout, the line of site for a driver to the crossing area is obstructed. This could cause sudden vehicle stops when the crossing guard is in the road with kids. In turn, this could cause a rear-end collision from the next car in line.

Paula Vandehey (Director of Public Works) thinks sending a pamphlet home with the students will be enough education on how to manipulate the roundabout. However, there is no education provided to the general public (ie non-Richmond families) regarding school crossings in any roundabout. With her line of thinking, each year the school brings in newkindergartnersor other students, the school will need to educate again.

Mead Pool will lose their berm (hill with landscaping), which will also put the roundabout within 65 feet of the pool.

Dean Gazza, Director of Parks and Recs is requesting compensation for the loss of the park’s land. However, no compensation is being granted in regards to Richmond losing their capability of dropping off children.