Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transportation And Communications topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Resident supports roundabout study and council members criticize misleading social-media posts
Summary
A resident told the council a social-media post misrepresented proposed roundabout size at First Street and Sycamore Road; council members urged voters to check facts and condemned repeated online misinformation.
DeKalb — A resident urged the DeKalb City Council on March 24 to proceed with a study of a possible roundabout at First Street and Sycamore Road and to reject a misleading social-media post that the speaker called a false depiction of the project.
Tom Haven (identified in the record) told the council a local Facebook page posted an altered image showing a demonstrably oversized roundabout footprint that would have required right-of-way into neighboring intersections and parks. He compared the post’s implied diameter — which he said would have approached 1,112 feet between landmarks on the map — to much smaller roundabouts, and urged the city to seek engineer drawings. “Roundabouts are more efficient, safer, better looking than metal pipes and traffic lights, and importantly, less expensive,” Haven said.
Haven recommended moving any preliminary roundabout alignment northeast to improve traffic flow and avoid Elwood House Park, and asked the public to wait for formal engineering drawings before drawing conclusions.
Several council members used their reports and public-comment responses to criticize what they described as repeated online misinformation about local projects. Alderman Larson and Alderman Perkins urged voters to verify online claims during the local election cycle and said deceptive posts are harming civic discourse. Larson warned that a vacuum of local, independent reporting makes it harder for residents to find reliable information online. Perkins and others thanked residents who have publicly corrected false posts.
Mayor Barnes and other council members and staff praised residents who speak up to correct misinformation and emphasized that city staff are working to provide accurate project details. The council did not take a formal vote on the roundabout itself; staff said the roundabout idea is under study and that officials expect to present engineer drawings before any decision.
The meeting record shows both public comment about the roundabout and an extended council discussion decrying false or misleading social-media posts. The council encouraged residents to consult official engineering documents and agendas before drawing conclusions about proposed projects.
