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Politics & Government

Junction Task Force Member Who Proposed Roundabout Disputes State Official's Opinion

Fight for roundabout is not yet over.

The member of the Takoma Junction Task Force whose proposal for a traffic roundabout on Carroll Avenue at the junction reignited task force interest in a roundabout there, disputed a Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) official’s .

Barbara Muhlbacher, the task force member who proposed a 30-foot splitter-island type of roundabout for Carroll Avenue, said, “I still think it would be a viable option for that area” despite reports that SHA District 3 official Cedric Ward told task force members who met with him on April 20 that a roundabout would not fit in the Takoma Junction area because it would prevent large trucks from making turns.

Task force members reported what Ward said at the committee’s April 26 meeting, and based on those reports, Muhlbacher said Ward did not address the option of including an “apron” that would allow larger trucks to pass over a roundabout.

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Maryland’s description of state highway roundabouts’ saying they be at least 100 feet in diameter “is mainly a guideline,” she said. However, those guidelines were produced in 1998, so “I think it’s time for new guidelines,” she added.

Further, after the task force meeting, a member told Muhlbacher that a roundabout needs to be at least from 70 feet to 80 feet in diameter for that spot. “Howard Kohn (task force co-chair) has measured the intersection, which is about 77 feet,” she said, adding, “I’ll have to revisit that as far as questioning those two aspects of a roundabout.”

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Muhlbacher believes a roundabout on Carroll Avenue is not “dead” and remains “a viable option for that area,” but she does not know if the task force will continue to pursue it as an option.

“I think most folks like to believe it’s dead, I would not like to believe that yet,” she said. Therefore, the task force “should consult with more professionals as far as simulations and exact measurements to say ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ does it fit, or does it not fit.”

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