Caution: Roadwork Ahead at the Civic Circle

By Caity Wilson

Longview drivers will be happy to know that their days of having to navigate one of the world’s most confusing roundabout intersections are soon to be over. The City has proposed a change of traffic flow around the Civic Circle intersection.

Right now, Longview has one of the world’s only roundabouts where people on the inside of the roundabout have to yield to incoming traffic as opposed to yielding to get into the roundabout.

This causes sudden halts, quick lane changes, and confusion to many drivers.

Changing the Civic Circle intersection will be an attempt to reduce these dangers.

“If the changes are well thought out, then the intersection is going to be better than the gauntlet that it is now. It’s pretty crazy,” Alison Kolberg 10 said.

The Civic Circle has been around for quite some time. It’s a place that has a lot of history.

“Once, my friends and I drove around the circle over and over again, in a row,”  Mr. Woodrum, an RAL teacher, said.

Different opinions of the change are spreading throughout Longview. Some may think change is a good thing, while others may feel the historical value of the circle will be degraded if change occurs.

Jan Shaw, a Longview town’s member, would like the Civic Circle to stay the same.

“Just improve the crosswalk by the library, like with lights or signs,” Shaw said.

However, Matt Sheehy 10 doesn’t feel the change would affect him.

“I really wouldn’t mind the change that much,” Sheehy said.

Some RAL students have come up with some unique ways that the park in the middle of the Civic Circle could be improved.

“I think it could be really cool to have the area more open, so people could play games like Ultimate Frisbee,” Garrett Wittrock 11 said.

Other ideas have come also.

“There should be more park benches added for [people that don’t have a place to stay] to sleep on,” Sheehy  said.

Kolberg and some other students feel that  it should be improve so it’s not so creepy, and more useful to Longview.

Changing the flow of traffic and the park inside the Circle will have a great impact on the city of Longview. Final decisions have not been made.