While many in Franklin might be in opposition to roundabouts throughout the city, the 27th Street Steering Committee has supported the concept of roundabouts along the 27th Street corridor from College to County Line Road. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation has pushed for the roundabout concept for the past several years, and many suburbanites experience roundabouts when they're near the I-43/Moorland Road interchange in New Berlin.
Franklin was given a bad first impression of a roundabout when the Shoppes at Wyndham Village was constructed in 2008, where a very tiny roundabout welcomes residents to the shoppes into Sendik's off of Drexel. Since that roundabout opened for traffic, many residents have complained and the roundabout itself has been battered in some degree. I recall over winter when several comments came in about someone (or a plow, even) driving right through the roundabout and leaving its mark right through the middle.
The only member from Franklin on the Joint South 27th Street Steering Committee, Alderman Steve Olson, was quoted by the Franklin NOW as saying the distaste of roundabouts in our community died down since the Drexel disaster roundabout was built. However, if comments and remarks on the Franklin blogosphere and Twitter accounts made any difference, I'd have to say that the Drexel roundabout caused more frustration among residents, not less.
Ultimately, it is my opinion that roundabouts are a great component in any city or community. However, they need to be properly built and placed in the right spots. Since WISDOT has shown us in the past with the Moorland roundabouts that they can be built to carry traffic with relative ease, I believe the roundabouts on 27th Street will be not only great for smoother travel along the Franklin/Oak Creek border, but also will add on to the overall landscaping and asthetics that residents have asked city leaders to push for the business corridor.
You can see the report that HNTB, who is contracted by both cities as a consultant for the 27th Street corridor, wrote-up regarding roundabouts along 27th Street:
