Local

Slater Road roundabouts near Ferndale hard to see at night; paint, reflectors added

By Ralph Schwartz - The Bellingham Herald

Yellow paint and reflectors were added earlier this month to the curbs in front of the new roundabouts at Slater Road and Pacific Highway, and Slater and Interstate 5. The safety improvements are shown Tuesday, Dec. 9, looking east at the roundabout west of I-5.
Yellow paint and reflectors were added earlier this month to the curbs in front of the new roundabouts at Slater Road and Pacific Highway, and Slater and Interstate 5. The safety improvements are shown Tuesday, Dec. 9, looking east at the roundabout west of I-5. Courtesy to The Bellingham Herald

Paint and reflectors were added to the new roundabouts on Slater Road near Interstate 5 to make them more visible.

Three compact roundabouts were installed in November on Slater: two at the on- and off-ramps on either side of I-5, and one at Pacific Highway. They were intended to improve safety, particularly for left turns onto Slater. However, people complained to the state Department of Transportation that the roundabouts were difficult to see at night.

Crews added yellow paint and reflectors to the triangular curbs in front of each of the roundabouts on the weekend of Dec. 6-7, DOT officials said.

“We’ll be keeping an eye on all these improvements to make sure they are continuing to improve the safety here,” DOT project manager Chris Damitio said.

Damitio could confirm just one collision at the roundabouts since they were installed on Nov. 13. The crash, on Dec. 1, happened during the day.

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