Around and around and around Carmel we go…
Carmel, Indiana – the suburb of Indianapolis that I’ve been touring since yesterday afternoon – is internationally known for its roundabouts. The city went from zero in the early 1990s to almost 80 roundabouts today, a record number for an American city, according to Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard.
Brainard has become a roundabout evangelist, traveling across the country in support of the traffic circles, which put a circular, nonstop lane of traffic at an intersection in place of the traffic signals. According to him they cost less, are safer and make the city’s grid more efficient when compared to traffic lights.
The proliferation and success of roundabouts in Carmel even attracted the eyes of CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
Roundabouts may seem like a quaint sideshow in a city that is approaching the billion-dollar mark on public investment, including a world-class, $170-million concert hall, but those circular traffic features are probably one of the biggest draws for this Clarksville Chamber of Commerce trip.
Three of the city’s street department staff made the trip and we got a special tour of the roundabouts with Brainard and the director of the Carmel’s street department. So don’t be too surprised if Clarksvillians start to drive in circles, on purpose, in the near future.
I might start lobbying for the placement of roundabout and L’Arc de Triompe at the intersection of North Second and Riverside….
City Desk (931) 
That’s pretty funny. Personally I like roundabouts. But in the 22 years I’ve lived in Clarksville, I think the City has built 1 road. They built Ted Crozier Blvd as a limited access by-pass. The Street Dept actually fought to prevent connectivity on that road. And when you combine the fact that we don’t build new roads with the fact we don’t have a street grid anyplace but downtown, you won’t see any roundabouts here any time soon. Those 3 guys from the Street Department may as well have been at a seminar on doing hip replacement surgery. The odds of them putting in a roundabout are about the same as them doing surgery.