Saturday's Lincoln Journal Star always contains an insert, the Neighborhood Extra. There is a small feature in the insert every week called "Hometown Quiz." The quiz posits three questions about Lincoln's history, the answers to which are published in the following week's edition. Last week, Tonja read one of the questions to me: "Where was the first roundabout in Lincoln?" I took a stab, although I was a little doubtful: "9th and M Street."
When the paper arrived this past weekend, I was a little surprised to see the printed answer: "31st Street near Pine Lake Road." I think not. Never mind that there is no 31st Street near Pine Lake Road; I imagine the author was thinking about the little roundabout at the intersection of S. 32nd Street and a private roadway named Zermatt Drive that feeds the SouthPointe Pavilions shopping center.
I guessed 9th and M Streets because I recall seeing a late19th or early 20th century photo depicting a horse fountain in the middle of M street, looking west, with the Lincoln Paint and Color Company (now known as Color Court) building in the background. It caught my eye because at the time I first saw the image, the police station was located at that corner. If that fountain was in the intersection at S. 9th Street, it would have caused the intersection to function exactly like a modern roundabout.
Lacking any confirmation that the fountain was in the intersection, rather than midblock, I still think it is quite likely that there have been circulators in Lincoln's distant past that are long since forgotten. I know for sure, however, that the S. 32nd and Zermatt Drive example is nowhere close to the first. The huge rotary at S. 16th and Centerpark Road has been there for at least 40 years, and still ranks as the largest roundabout in Lincoln. It has been carrying traffic all day long, including the largest tractor-trailer rigs some pretty busy shift changes (Square D, Weaver's, and the Miller & Paine warehouse, come to mind). Funny, this roundabout has served well for several decades without any of the consternation that seems to accompany current iterations of this rather ancient intersection form.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
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19 comments:
I'm in favor of putting in as many roundabouts as we can, even if it goes against public opinion. They're proven safer and the citizens will eventually get used to them. I love the one on Salt Creek and Stadium Drive.
and I'm sorry y'all didn't have an officer near the roundabout in front of the pen and Burger King yesterday around 12:45. An oversize load flatbed semi turned south from Westbound Hiway 2, taking out the divided median sign, no less than 8 of the pylons marking the roundabout, and took close to 15 minutes to negotiate the turn and roundabout. Total cluster.
I recently saw a photo, maybe the same one you are referring to, of the "humane watering station" that, according to the picture's caption, was located at 9th and O St. There were horses drinking from it, and it appeared to be in the middle of the intersection, which in effect would have made it a roundabout. The picture, along with numerous other historical photos of Lincoln, are on the wall at the new PepperJax restaurant near 27th and Pine Lake Road.
How old is the roundabout at the east entrance to Pioneers Park? More than 40 years, I'm sure.
Steve,
I thought about Pioners Park, too, and it's cleary considerably older than Centerpark and S. 16th.
That fountain you referred to is in fact called the "Humane Society Fountain." We (Parks & Recreation) had it spruced up and relocated to 7th & Q in 2006 after having it in storage for some time.
I've linked to a photo of the sign as it is currently on the fountain.
http://lincoln.ne.gov/city/parks/images/humanesocietyfountain.jpg
Woodsshire neighborhood has small roundabouts, which they call the circles, at East Pershing and Grimsby Lane. This neighborhood was platted in the late 1920s. The circles help slow traffic. I agree with Anon 6:48; I wish we had more roundabouts.
I went down to PepperJax and looked at the picture again, and it does say "Humane Fountain" but I also went by 7th and Q and didn't see anything that looked remotely like what was pictured. There was square concrete, open topped box, that could have been a fountain, but I couldn't see it very well from my motorcycle at the curb. Then, there was a policeman behind me, sort of giving me the evil eye, so I didn't stay long (not that I had anything to hide, though).
The link that was posted to the picture of the fountain at 7th and Q didn't work for me (yes, I copied and pasted).
Stacey,
Thanks! That's it, and so cool! It was, then, mid-block on M Street. It's there Steve--park the bike and walk up into Iron Horse Park.
10:40,
Woodsshire, of course, excellent! Those roundabouts would almost surely be the oldest still in use. Doubt that Charles Lindbergh used them, despite his connection to Woodsshire.
H,
Gotta admit, that's an odd conglomeration of stuff that makes up that temporary construction "roundabout".
Steve,
Try this link instead:
http://lincoln.ne.gov/city/parks/images/humanesocietyfountain.jpg
Moderator/Casady - why is the link cutting off? There should be a .jpg following humane society. Odd that it cut off at the same spot for both my post and Stacey's post.
Stacey:
It appears to be the same link, and I get the same "404 page not found" error. It's okay, though, as I'm going to go back down to 7th and Q, park my bike (as Tom suggested) and check it out.
If you, or anyone else, is interested, there are a number of other photos at PepperJax that might amaze you if you are younger and don't remember how things looked 50 plus years ago around Lincoln. If you are old enough to remember them as pictured, you have my sympathy (join the club). I was especially taken aback by the photo of 48th and O, I think it was between 1950 and 1960.
Don't forget the beautiful old fountain that used to be in the middle of 11th & "J" Streets until it was deemed a traffic hazard by the city, so was eventually turned into a watering hole for the flamingoes at the Children's Zoo. Big shame on that one...
I wish Lincoln had more of roundabouts and had more of them planned for the future. Too bad that there isn't any language in the latest city comprehensive plan update to encourage roundabout construction.
(as European as they may be - if the Europeans figured out that they were as safe and effective as they really are years ago, why did it take us so long over here in the U.S. to catch up [some overlooking on our part I guess... maybe early Interstate Highways adoption?]?)
Hopefully we'll see more roundabouts in Lincoln. Patience waiting for them mainly, though, I guess.....
You need to check out the huge roundabout on Long Island, NY, at Jones Beach. 3 lanes of travel in each direction, plus a huge 200' tower in the middle.
Chief:
If you thought the "odd conglomeration" was fun to drive through, you need to take a van full of City Engineers through it after the changes they made on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. I have seen angles and curves like that since a college level calculus class.
Steve,
Click here for the Humane Society Fountain photo.
Tom:
Thanks for the link that worked. I'm not sure now if that's the same one I saw in the picture at PepperJax. That one said it was at 9th and O, and it seemed to look a little bigger in the picture I saw. I'm guessing it was the same one, though, and simply miscaptioned.
There's a giant roundabout on Cape Cod. They call it a "rotary." It's multiple lanes. It connects up several major highways and if you go NE you end up at Hyannisport and if you go SW, you end up at Fallmouth where you can take the ferry to Martha's Vineyard. It's ingenious.
12:52,
That Cape Cod rotary is the biggest one I've ever driven, and in some major traffic travelling at warp speed. Worked just fine for me.
The first traffic circle I remember was the Classen Circle in Oklahoma City. I spent many a happy hour exceeding the speed limit around that circle about fifty years ago.. Awww the stories we CANNOT tell the Grandkids.
Gun Nut
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