Ronda Loves Roundabouts Rolls Into Akron, Ohio
Jonathan French, P.E. and Bill Bagnall
“A person in Akron, Ohio wants to buy a hundred copies of “Ronda Loves Roundabouts” and she’s raising money to buy them.”
That was the message our Build The Era LLC board received just this past December.
While selling 100 copies of our book is exciting news, the reason for the purchase was even more exciting for us.
First, we need to tell you about the person behind this effort. Christine Jonke, P.E., is the Design Division Manager in the Engineering Bureau of the City of Akron, Ohio. She’s been there 27 years, overseeing a variety of roadway projects “but not near enough of them have been roundabouts.” As she wrote in her GoFundMe fundraising campaign post:
“I love roundabouts! They save lives! They move traffic efficiently! But lots of people have misguided impressions. Those big circles of the past had a lot of flaws. The way we design them now though! Wow! They’re ingenious.”
Her goal was to put 100 copies (since increased to 150 copies) of Ronda Loves Roundabouts in every Akron elementary school, library, and as many free little libraries as possible. Since the campaign's launch in December, she has successfully raised the funds to order the books.
One reason we wrote this book was to dispel the reasons roundabouts are misunderstood, but also to engage young children in a discussion about them and road safety. We believe it is imperative to have road safety discussions with children early in their lives so they can be safer in the built environment throughout their lifetime.
We asked Christine a few questions about this effort to put this book in Akron.
How did you learn about Ronda Loves Roundabouts?
I am on a Listserv called Roundabout Research. It’s been a great resource for all sorts of miscellanea. I’m a huge proponent of roundabouts and find what others are doing around the country endlessly fascinating. One day there was a post about this children’s book. Normally you don’t think of books on driving being for children. I immediately thought, what a great idea! Let’s get kids curious. Curiosity leads to discovery.
What is it about the book that caused you to want to have it available in every Akron library and school, and so create the fundraiser?
Along with roundabouts, I’m also a great lover of libraries. The idea that the world is short just one book, well, that’s not acceptable! More to the point, in my line of work, I do my best to share the benefits of roundabouts. I get a lot of push back. Many people are averse to any kind of roundabout and can’t believe they are safer, or even more efficient than traditional signals. These folks are no longer curious. If I can help young people discover better, safer ways of doing anything at all, we all win.
What do you hope distributing the book will accomplish for Akron?
I hope future generations embrace roundabouts. Building more roundabouts means saving more lives. Period.
Christine, thank you for all you’re doing to help make the kids (and adults) in Akron more road-wise and roundabout-wise.
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Bulk discount
We now offer a discount when you purchase 100 or more copies of Ronda Loves Roundabouts directly through us. Contact us today to learn more.
https://buildtheera.com