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Saturday, Jul. 04, 2009

Proposed Ingleside/Vista roundabout in need of funding

Macon dentist and community activist Lindsay Holliday is still pushing to gain support for a roundabout in the city.

For a while now, he’s floated the idea of a roundabout — a circular intersection where traffic flows around a center island — at the intersection of Ingleside Avenue and Vista Circle.

Drivers have been known to sail down Ingleside, ignoring the 35 mph traffic zone.

The roundabout, he said, would require motorists to slow down, make the intersection more appealing and help prevent wrecks.

There also seems to be neighborhood interest in a roundabout, he said.

“The interest has been overwhelming,” he said.

There’s really just one hitch.

“Everything is a go but the funding,” he added.

Cost estimates to place a roundabout at that intersection have been figured at about $40,000.

The Knight Fund for Macon at the Community Foundation of Central Georgia has pledged to help with a small fraction of the cost, about $5,000, if the neighborhood steps up to say it’s a priority, said Beverly Blake, local program director for the Knight Foundation.

“I’m a great believer in roundabouts for traffic calming, and they are aesthetically pleasing,” she said.

Holliday said the city has a rendering of the proposed roundabout and has done a traffic speed study in the area.

Holliday also proposed a roundabout on Forest Hill Road a couple of years ago that didn’t come to fruition.

In this case, “If anyone wants to step up to do fundraising, that’s all it would take,” he said.

To contact writer Julie Hubbard, call 744-4331.