It took a while, involving extended water work, big piles of dirt, and a years and years of scattered public “I HATE Roundabouts…argh!!!!1!!!!,” but the roadwork at 12th and Menaul is finally looking like a roundabout:

The cynical (i.e., me) might point out that from a roadway safety perspective the current half-finished roundabout is the single safest infrastructure possible. Drivers were going about 3 m.p.h. around the half-built thing this past Sunday. It was great.

In fact, even better might have been its configuration back in November:

And the absolute best was back on October 4th, when one could stand on Menaul ******* Boulevard at 12th and take a leisurely photo:

Ah, the driverless memories.

Still, the apparently soon to be completed roundabout is ultimately another engineering blow for safety and against the strong human tendency to drive too fast while preferring not to think about it or anything other than what they will have for dinner, even if it means killing somebody.

Kudos to Councilor Isaac Benton and everyone else who have had anything to do with getting this roundabout built, and for putting up with “I HATE Roundabouts…argh!!!!1!!!!,” all those years (here and very much Rio Grande Blvd. and Candelaria included).