The art of the traffic roundabout

In quiet neighborhood intersections all across Tucson there are roundabouts with trees, shrubs and some artwork in the middle. Along with speed bumps they are effective in slowing down fast drivers.

On the left, a typical traffic circle in Tucson with a Palo Verde tree, a prickly pear cactus and faded butterfly artwork. These plants will survive with only the rain that falls from the sky.

Until yesterday, however, at the tiny Barrio Blue Moon (pop. 587) I had not seen any roundabout here with painted artwork designating the circle. And the plants were going into huge tubs. Was this a roundabout breakthrough? A first for Tucson? [Later: I have since learned that the Living Streets Alliance has also painted at least one roundabout in the southern part of Tucson. So the Blue Moon Barrio one is not the first.]

Tucson regulations about roundabouts

So I looked up the city regulations for traffic circles and learned that like speed bumps, they have to be requested by neighbors who have to pay for the speed bump/traffic circle once the city okays it. In the case of roundabouts, the neighbors have to agree to maintain plants/trees–chosen from a short city-approved list–installed in the circle. There was no mention of art work but I noticed that the city regs. said there could not be a traffic circle with trees planted in the ground if there was a manhole in the center of the intersection.

And when I looked at the photos of the new Barrio Blue Moon painted traffic circles — there are 2 of them — sure enough, I saw a manhole right in the middle of 14th Ave. and Helen St. It has a nice design painted on it, but for sure it is a manhole. Which explains why the plants were going into big colorful plastic tubs.

But I am digressing. Creating this traffic circle was definitely a neighborhood effort. By the time I arrived however, the painting had already been done and the neighbors were sitting around in the shade enjoying a burrito lunch while listening to the sounds DJ Desiree was spinning. And, nearby, two women from Bicas were repairing bikes.

It was clear that after lunch in the 90F heat that phase two of the making of the traffic circle would begin. The paint brushes were cleaned and drying. The dirt and plants were ready to go into the tubs.

So I wandered up 14th to Mabel St. where I saw the second painted Traffic Circle. Again with a manhole in the center. The designer, Armando Sotelo III, told me that this one was made up “on the fly” and that those black and yellow traffic warnings were all that would be in this roundabout. No trees in tubs. (I guess they had extra paint and decided to use it.)

So back to 14th and Helen where the action was. A volunteer painter was laying on a second coat and neighborhood dudes put the tubs into place under the watchful eyes of Armando Sotelo and a city official.

And here is the roundabout finished.

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