Mixed feelings on Holman Highway Roundabout

It’s typically bumper to bumper where Holman Highway and Highway 1 meets. An upcoming roundabout for the area aims to relieve that traffic congestion and improve safety.

Some residents are worried.

“Little old ladies are going to kill themselves,” one driver on Holman Highway said. “It’s going to be a sea of glass.”

But on Thursday, you could only see a sea of break lights. There was honking and the sound of frustrated drivers at the interchange. When the light turns red, cars can back up all the way around the bend.

That’s why plans for the Holman Highway 68 Roundabout are in the works.

“It”s one of our priority intersections, and the City of Monterey, City of Pacific Grove, the Monterey County and Transportation Agency for Monterey County have all received public input about how important this project is,” TAMC Transportation Planner Grant Leonard said.

The roundabout works like this – once you enter, you yield to oncoming traffic and you can only go right. TAMC officials said the one way turns make it safer than drivers trying to turn left against oncoming traffic.

“I think the roundabout will be good, it will be a big learning curve, pun non intended,” Monterey resident Erica Fox said. “But if Europeans can do it, I think we will too.”

The cost of the project, $8.8 million. Construction is expected to start in June and should wrap up by spring of 2017.

“Lighthouse Avenue, Ocean View, is going to be the easiest access to Pacific Grove,” PG Chamber of Commerce President Moe Ammar said. “Now if you’re coming from Carmel or Carmel Valley, we’re looking into opening up the 17 Mile Drive to our employees who are coming through Pebble Beaches.”

The Pacific Grove Chamber of Commerce said there won’t be any construction on weekends or during busy events, but the new roundabout still doesn’t have Megan Maron’s vote.

“Horrible idea because we’ve seen a few little roundabouts in the neighborhoods and nobody even knows what to do with the roundabout, in fact it makes it even worse because you’ve got a lot of confusion that is attached to all the horrible traffic that comes in,” said Maron.

TAMC will host an event May 11 at Monterey Peninsula College where people can learn how roundabouts work. It starts at 6 p.m.