WINOOSKI – The infamous rotary’s reputation as a pedestrian unfriendly area may be fading as over a dozen pedestrians navigated safely across the Winooski traffic circle to the refuge of Rotary Park on Saturday afternoon. The town has been holding concerts and other events in the park, which is surrounded by an unbroken ring of manic traffic and frustrated mergers.
“We hope this will alleviate any fears people may have had about the rotary not being safe for pedestrians,” said city representative Rex Lesser. “Obviously people are going to be hit, but it’s not as many as the rumors would have you believe. When more than a dozen people get across safely in a row, that means you’ve got pretty good odds as far as I can see.”
The streak was broken when Timmy Jones, 7, failed to avoid a Nissan Leaf which was changing from the inner lane to the 2nd outer near the flashing stop/yield signs southbound. Jones suffered only minor injuries, and was treated at the scene by paramedics permanently stationed near the rotary for just this purpose.
I assume the Leaf was totaled.