EMMETT, Idaho — As areas grow, infrastructure also sees updates. In Emmett, some of those updates were in the form of traffic circles. I'm your Emmett neighborhood reporter, Alexander Huddleston, learning the rules of the road regarding these types of traffic patterns.
"In making a city more walkable, you have to make it so it is safe," nodded Emmett Mayor Gordon Petrie.
A few years back, the Emmett City Council elected to construct two traffic circles as the city made road improvements to the corridor.
The mayor explained, "Previously, there were stop signs at East 4th and East 12th. There were times on a Friday afternoon that if you were trying to cross Johns, you would be there for a while."
Mayor Petrie says the engineers in charge of the project said that traffic circles were much more efficient than stop signs and much less expensive than traffic lights, which totaled up to a million dollars.
"We have had a minimum amount of crashes inside the roundabouts," said Emmett Police Chief Steve Kunka.
I have had several locals reach out to me with reports that drivers were being reckless or uncomfortable when they came across one of these intersections.
Chief Kunka continued, "People are cautious when approaching the intersection, especially one they are not familiar with."
To help alleviate some of the confusion on what the rules are for one of these stops, the Emmett police department created an ordinance for drivers to follow.
"We would like them to go at least five miles under the speed limit when they approach. The second thing is if they are turning to make sure they use their signal, and when you approach a roundabout about you yield to the left," explained the chief.
Chief Kunka says that as long as drivers see that the oncoming lane to their left is clear, they can jump right in, kind of like a zipper.
If you want to see more details about this ordinance or any others, you can go to the Emmett police website.
