Chico >> The Esplanade will be getting a roundabout at East First Avenue and at Memorial Way, but it won’t happen for several years.

The City Council made its first decisions about the future of The Esplanade at a special meeting Thursday. None of these will even begin construction until 2019 at the earliest, after the city receives grant funding.

The council approved installing the roundabouts in two 4-3 votes, with Councilor Andrew Coolidge, Councilor Reanette Fillmer and Vice Mayor Sean Morgan voting against the decisions.

Councilor Ann Schwab motioned to approve the First Avenue roundabout “to keep the traffic flowing as optimally as we can.”

“The stop and go traffic and … the number of accidents concern me greatly,” she said. “We can’t just let it stay the way it is.”

Public Works Director of Engineering Brendan Ottoboni said staff suggested it because of the high volume of collisions at the intersection.

Coolidge said the council is destroying The Esplanade’s beauty and historic value, “ripping it to shreds” by adding roundabouts.

He, Fillmer and Morgan all mentioned they felt they did not have enough information to move forward with many decisions. Morgan said the council entered “uncharted territory” after approving the First Avenue roundabout and was in danger of making bad decisions too quickly.

“Fixing it fast is completely different than fixing it right,” he said at the start of the meeting. “My knee jerk reaction right now is to say we gotta keep looking at this.”

W-Trans traffic engineer Steve Weinberger was not present to answer questions. Those were directed to Ottoboni.

For bicycle travel, the council decided to install a two-way lane in the rail right-of-way, a 5-2 vote with Fillmer and Morgan dissenting. A unanimous vote extended this to the 11th Avenue intersection, which currently has two-way bike traffic from the Lindo Channel bridge onto The Esplanade and 11th Avenue, without an identified route.

Traffic will also slow down during peak hours in the corridor, but will stay 28 mph otherwise, because of a vehicle detection-based system installation. This passed 5-2 with Coolidge and Schwab dissenting.

On the topic of schools, a roundabout will be installed at Oleander Avenue and Memorial Way near Chico Junior High School, which passed 6-1 with Coolidge dissenting.

Oleander Avenue at Eighth and Ninth avenues will be changed to allow free-flowing bicycle traffic, which passed 6-1 with Schwab dissenting.

At Chico High School, a mini roundabout will be installed at West Sacramento and Magnolia avenues, with widening onto the school property for additional drop off space. The vote passed 5-2 with Coolidge and Fillmer dissenting.

There will be no mini-roundabout at West Lincoln Avenue or two-way traffic on the avenue from The Esplanade to Magnolia Avenue. This passed 4-3 with Fillmer, Morgan and Coolidge dissenting.Staff will work with the Lincoln Avenue neighborhood and Chico High to come up with alternatives, a motion made by Councilor Randall Stone.

The following were unanimous decisions:

• Americans with Disabilities Act sidewalk ramps and sidewalk connectivity, as well as pedestrian refuge islands at all intersections along the Esplanade.

• Traffic signal count-down heads, with adequate crossing times.

• Markings and signage to highlight areas of confusion

• A new traffic signal at First and Oleander avenues

At the beginning of the meeting, Mayor Mark Sorensen reminded those in attendance that the city isn’t exploring changing The Esplanade for fun. It has real safety and federal non-compliancy issues that have to be addressed, and staff’s suggestions are supported by traffic and collision data.

Councilor Tami Ritter said The Esplanade needs to be safe for everyone, and that involves not throwing out all the ideas the professional consultant has suggested because they don’t “feel” right.

“That means we cannot discount and throw away the idea of roundabouts, which have been proven to be safe,” she said. “… if it means we save the lives of our students.”

She later made the motion to approve the roundabout at Memorial Way.

Public comment

Roundabouts were also a source of contention for citizens.

Brett Eldredge said traffic circles have worked well in other parts of the city, but he feels safer as a pedestrian and bicyclist crossing timed intersections.

Billie Kantec, who prefers to bike in Chico, said she doesn’t have a problem with roundabouts.

“I think they’re great,” she said. “As a cyclist, I don’t like stopping at every (intersection).”

Bill Collins said roundabouts throw a learning curve at drivers, who do not react in time when driving through them. He said he feels they would cause more accidents, minor and major.

Donald Smith said some people consider roundabouts a work of art, but he considers The Esplanade a work of art.

“I consider roundabouts figure eight racing,” he said.

Mike McClusky said roundabouts make sense in addressing concerns for The Esplanade users that are not drivers. He mentioned studies have shown they are much safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Contact reporter Ashiah Scharaga at 896-7768.