I have received a couple questions recently from quite a few of you and figured I should share them with everyone because I'm sure there are others who'd like to know, too.
Question: Why is the mound of dirt so high in the new Smith Round roundabout on Mount Baker Highway?
Answer: The mound is higher in this roundabout than others in the county, and, yes, we did it on purpose. The mounds are not this high in some of our other roundabouts because we don't always have the space for it. But we did in this case. The taller mound does a couple things:
? Makes the intersection more visible from a farther distance, giving drivers a visual cue that they're approaching the intersection.
? Encourages drivers, once they're at the intersection, to focus on traffic directly to their left rather than all legs of the intersection. Remember, it's not a four-way stop, so you only have to worry about traffic to your left - wait for that gap in traffic and then go for it.
Q: I noticed you recently lowered the speed limit on Badger Road in Lynden. Why?
A: The Lynden City Council asked us to review the speed limit on Badger Road earlier this year when we attended one of their meetings. This was shortly after a motorcyclist died in a collision in June. Our traffic engineers studied the traffic speeds, volumes, crashes and access points along the highway. Traffic volumes have doubled in the last 10 years, and there have been quite a few crashes. We decided to lower the speed limit to 45 mph between the Guide Meridian and Kamm Creek bridge to better match today's traffic trends in the area.
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