City Beat
What Are All the Roundabouts About?
Roundabouts Currently
Under Construction:
• Miller and Santa Teresa Boulevard
• Third Street and Santa Teresa
Boulevard
• Third Street and Autumn
(within the Meritage Homes
Neighborhood)
• 10th Street and Luchessa (within
the Glen Loma Neighborhood)
Upcoming Roundabouts:
• Ballybunion and Santa Teresa
Boulevard
• Hecker Pass and Autumn
The construction crews at the Miller
Roundabout discovered an under-
ground spring that ran right under the
construction area. While this spring
caused little to no effect during the
hot and dry summer, it became a large
complication during this past wet winter.
Construction crews added extra drainage
and then had to wait for the ground
to dry so that it could be compacted
adequately for pavement to be laid.
The good news is, as can be seen by
photo, Miller Roundabout is now under
full construction with the first phase of
construction complete.
Why Roundabouts
Instead of Traffic Lights?
According to the Federal Highway
Administration (FHA) and the Insurance
Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS),
roundabouts improve safety by reducing
crashes by 37% and reducing fatal
crashes by 90%. And with roundabouts,
head-on and high-speed right angle
collisions are virtually eliminated. And
because the roundabouts are designed
to lower the speed of the vehicles to
15-20 MPH, roundabouts have proven
to be safer for pedestrians and bicyclists
as well. Roundabouts also improve the
“level of service” of the intersection by
30%, allowing more cars to flow through
with fewer delays. Landscaping is also
a prominent feature in the center of the
roundabouts, providing an aesthetically
pleasing look to our town.
Twelve Communities Say Yes To Energy Choice!
T
he City of Gilroy and eleven other
communities in Santa Clara County
took action to form and join the Silicon
Valley Clean Energy Authority (SVCEA),
a local non-profit agency charged with
procuring cleaner energy for residents
and businesses.
Community Choice Energy (CCE) is
an opportunity to change the electricity
market and provide residents and
businesses with a new choice. This new
electricity provider would be entirely
20
locally run. It’s similar to buying in bulk
or participating in a co-op. The agency
would buy power on the open market,
encouraging the kind of competition
that can result in more renewable energy
sources at lower rates.
Under CCE, PG&E would continue
to provide essential services as a partner,
delivering the electricity over existing
infrastructure, maintaining the power
lines, sending bills, and providing
customer service. Your bill would even
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
JULY / AUGUST 2016
look the same.
When a community decides to create
or join a CCE, all customers within that
jurisdiction are automatically enrolled in
the CCE. However, customers can choose
to opt-out and remain with or go back to
PG&E. In existing programs, 80-90% of
customers have chosen to stay with the new
local agency as their electricity provider,
opting for the cleaner, greener, local choice.
For more information and updates, visit
the SVCE website at: svcleanenergy.org/
gmhtoday.com
Why Was Miller
Delayed for So Long?