Roundabouts - Yay or nay?

[Famine]

Oh, they get smaller than that.

Small pimple that masquerades as a roundabout.

And much, much bigger.

Roundabout that masquerades as a motorway.

 

[Northstar]

Yay for roundabouts
Nay for "here and there" implementation.

 

[Joey D]

I'm a big fan of roundabouts, however I think people in the Detroit area (and Michigan in general) are simply morons when it comes to using them. They don't get the point of a yield sign I guess, yield never means come to a full stop before preceding if the intersection is clear. I can't tell you how many people I've seen just slam on their brakes coming up to a round about because another car is entering on the other side, if people kept the flow going there wouldn't be an issue.I also hate when people don't use indicators to let you know they are exiting the roundabout, this would take a lot of guess work out of it (not that there is much).

Oh and people in Jeeps tend to ignore roundabouts all together and just drive over the mound of grass in the middle. It just furthers my believe that a majority of Jeep's are owned my massive toolboxes.

 

[Tornado]

Oh and people in Jeeps tend to ignore roundabouts all together and just drive over the mound of grass in the middle.

Really?

 

[Joey D]

Yup, I can't tell you how many times I've seen it. There is a roundabout a few miles from me that I travel quite frequently and it seems like during the summer there is always some late-teen/early twenty year old guy in a jack-up Wrangler drive through the centre of it. It stops raining in Michigan in June so it's just burnt up grass, but still it causes some issues when the mom in a minivan freaks the hell out because of it.

 

[Keef]

Roundabout in my nearest city:

It has 7 exits (only 4 marked on the signs as you approach it). The lack of space is where Mini roundabouts are worth their weight in Gold (Yes, Famine, I know that's nothing!) Brighton (the city of above roundabout) has some very narrow streets and and some junctions on quite severe slopes, doesn't stop the mini roundabout though!

A roundabout at the intersection of two four-lane roads with a fifth dual-turn lane in the middle will take up a whole lot of room.

I personally believe the roundabout would best be applied to major suburban streets. I feel their application to neighborhoods (the street in your picture may be urban, but is no larger than a typical neighborhood road) wouldn't be nearly as effective and would pose a great nuisance from the construction and whatnot.

I actually feel that application of roundabouts to these busy streets would be more a boon for the greenie-weenie cause than an entire country's worth of hybrid vehicles. There are more than a few traffic lights near my house where whole fleets of cars remain stationary, idling, for three minutes or more. Over and over. It's terrible.

I'd like to learn more about that Carmel town though. Sounds like they've got a really good plan. That reminds me though...getting rid of traffic lights also gets rid of the opportunity for red light cameras.

Britons, how common are roundabouts in built-up suburban areas with shopping centers and malls and Walmarts and banks and gas stations on every corner?

 

[mustangGT90210]

Another word to those small round abouts, my truck can't even turn that tightly, I need 2.5 lanes at the very least to make a u-turn. It looks on those small ones I'd have to put it in reverse multiple ttimes

 

[Small_Fryz]

Motorists drive round and round, just guessing which one has the right of way and trying to figure out how to exit.

Bit like this guy?

Seriously though, we have roundabouts everywhere and I find them to be quite awesome, as long as you have 2 lanes or so the traffic nearly always flows nicely. Much better than waiting at a set of lights and god forbid a 4 way stop sign intersection... Id have no idea who to give way too at that..

 

[Keef]

Bit like this guy?

Epic.

I will tell you all the truth. If we had roundabouts in my area, my friends and I would drift them regularly. Basically every time I went through one in the rain I would be sideways.

 

[Ibonibo]

Awesome Audi drift

Bit like this guy?

As a big Audi fan, i know this vid.

Drifting R.a became quite a sport over here in rain. But also saw some overconfident ones not able to finish the drift.
Personally I would **** my pants, not because of the drift but the cops.



Funny though how the cop simply can't catch up

 

[Small_Fryz]

This is how its done in Europe

 

[Ibonibo]

^awesome

 

[homeforsummer]

I actually feel that application of roundabouts to these busy streets would be more a boon for the greenie-weenie cause than an entire country's worth of hybrid vehicles. There are more than a few traffic lights near my house where whole fleets of cars remain stationary, idling, for three minutes or more. Over and over. It's terrible.

Keef, you're not being deliberately obtuse are you? That's not like you at all!



Seriously though, logically speaking, three minutes of idling tens of cars per set of traffic signals and tens of thousands of traffic signals around the country is a whole lot of fuel being wasted. I'm sure you'd prefer all that extra fuel to be used by your RX7 at 3mpg than for it all to be wasted by Camrys and Escalades sitting in queues of traffic.

Britons, how common are roundabouts in built-up suburban areas with shopping centers and malls and Walmarts and banks and gas stations on every corner?

Pretty common. Probably more likely than traffic signals.

 

[ranhammerR34]

Two Words.... Hell yes. I lived in a town where the main road goes through a roundabout (Called the Solider's Mound) on a hill! Look up Angola, Indiana on google maps and zoom in. There is also on here in downtown Indy, and also some going up north on Keystone Ave and out west in Avon. I dig the roundbouts! 👍 They make traffic flow so much easier and I don't have to sit at the light losing time. --- Randy

 

[CSLACR]

Saw an article on our Auntie Beeb about the use of roundabouts in the States and it got me thinking about a debate for here, I couldn't see anything so here we go.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13863498



Blog which is very much anti-roundabouts.

http://www.thecitizen.com/blogs/rick-ryckeley/06-23-2011/beware-roundabouts



Where do you stand on Roundabouts? What's it like in your country/state?

I'm very much pro-roundabout, in fact, I think there should be more of them, they are just so much more efficient than traffic lights not to mention safer. The timing of the lights on some of the cross-sections around here is just ridiculous and makes the traffic build up horrific.

I can sort of see the economic point that guy is making, maybe now isn't the right time to replace something with something else, lit intersections are not necessarily broken, but the evidence for roundabouts as a better alternative is pretty strong. Have to disagree with the "too stupid to use" argument, it's not difficult, give way to anything that is going to hit you if you move on to the roundabout, car positioning and indication should be obvious. People that can't cope with them shouldn't really be on the road, should they?

I think Americans can't handle it. Most of our lights don't even blink late at night, let alone an intersection without someone else telling us when to go and when not to.
I can't even begin to imagine all the fender benders we would have.

Though I do think roundabouts are better, but the majority of Americans believe driving is a nuisance, and gets in the way of phone conversations, IPod's, and anything else that takes their attention away from driving, let alone proper speed judgement.

 

[Sniffs]

I hit one in pittsburgh leaving a convention. thing is, I couldn't see the road signs 'cause I wasn't looking UP (i was too busy watching for idiots, city traffic is nasty) fortunately, I found where I wanted to go in one loop.

when you grow up with them, you know what to do with them. most Americans DIDN'T grow up with them, and have to learn how to run a "traffic circle" first (and we WILL rename them) I know that roundabouts are meant to increase traffic flow, but for pete's sake, americans are either gonna be looking for lights, road signs, or pavement markings.

 

[daan]

Roundabouts will improve fuel consumption by keeping traffic flowing over the stop-start-stop-start-stop driving that the 4 way stop forces.

 

[Sureboss]

Sureboss, wow, I really never seen such small roundabout that looks really impractical.

This is one of our city's bigger roundabouts, but still, the smallest is probably atleast 20m in diameter.

My nearest roundabout: http://maps.google.lt/maps?q=santar...7104,0.016544&t=k&z=18&lci=com.google.webcams

I really like roundabouts, they're much more efficient. And if some drivers aren't intelligent enough to understand how to drive in a roundabout, then I think they shouldn't be driving at all.

See I'd just call that a junction, maybe a small ring road.

That mini-roundabout I posted isn't in the least bit impractical. Far from it in fact, it deals very well with high volumes of traffic (city of 500,000, only about a mile from the centre). Brighton, as many other old cities has some very unusual road layouts, not to mention the fact it's built in and around hills. I'd hate to think how you would work a 7-road traffic light junction. Badly I'd suspect. Not that difficult either, I did it numerous times whilst learning to drive. Spot your exit first, then look at any of those big metal things that could hit you if you pull out. The width of the roundabout (3 cars wide during busy times) makes it super-effective for dealing with the heavy amount of traffic. I don't see any other option would work there. Traffic certainly flows better there than some quieter traffic lit 4-way junctions in the City.

 

[Philly]

Considering that the majority of American's can't seem to figure out how a stop sign or traffic light work, I'm down for roundabouts. They would be especially nice at night so you don't have to sit for 15 minutes waiting for the light to change. They aren't practical for all intersections, but I do think that the roundabout would be good to see more of here.

In Seattle we have these interesting mini-roundabouts for uncontrolled intersections that I find rather interesting. Something like 5m across. I guess they're mostly good for slowing traffic across those intersections to prevent two people flying into each other.

http://maps.google.com/?ll=47.654109,-122.331728&spn=0.0014,0.003484&t=k&z=19

 

[Perfect Balance]

We recently got one roundabout where I live, and it's the only one I've ever been on. Nobody seems to have trouble using it either.

Fortunately for me, it's kind of on some back roads as well, so there's almost no traffic on it.......




I'm pretty sure every one of the tire marks around it is mine.

 

[Jay]

Yay, after going through hundreds of American and Canadian 4 way stops, YAY. Roundabouts just flow so much better.

Oh and I think some more giveway signs would halp a lot too, In US/CAN especially in the country I came across open (visually) 4 way stops one after the other, surely some giveway signs (in one direction) would be much better idea, thats what we do here if it doesn't warrant a roundabout and the drivers have clear view.

 

[CSLACR]

I do like the look of roundabouts, I just know it would be hazardous for a while around here.

 

[Keef]

Yay, after going through hundreds of American and Canadian 4 way stops, YAY. Roundabouts just flow so much better.

Oh and I think some more giveway signs would halp a lot too, In US/CAN especially in the country I came across open (visually) 4 way stops one after the other, surely some giveway signs (in one direction) would be much better idea, thats what we do here if it doesn't warrant a roundabout and the drivers have clear view.

Yield sign usage is puzzling over here. The idea is to use them where you have good visibility, especially at neighborhood T intersections. But they only use them about 5% of the time. And of those 5%, more than a few are in places where it's unsafe (imo) to have yield signs. Soooo, yeah. The only common place for them is at highway on ramps where two directions meet into one.

 

[Crash]

In Seattle we have these interesting mini-roundabouts for uncontrolled intersections that I find rather interesting. Something like 5m across. I guess they're mostly good for slowing traffic across those intersections to prevent two people flying into each other.

http://maps.google.com/?ll=47.654109,-122.331728&spn=0.0014,0.003484&t=k&z=19

Those things are pretty awesome, helps keep your speed down in tight neighborhood streets and helps in traffic management.

The only problem with those mini-roundabouts is that I've seen so many people just drive the wrong way to turn left instead of going around the roundable to turn left.

That and they are actually pretty tight, especially with cars parked on the street. Trying to tow a 40 foot trailer behind a full size pickup truck through a neighborhood full of those was... interesting to say the least. Ask me how I know.

 

[Sharky.]

A roundabout at the intersection of two four-lane roads with a fifth dual-turn lane in the middle will take up a whole lot of room.

What is this I don't even...

Britons, how common are roundabouts in built-up suburban areas with shopping centers and malls and Walmarts and banks and gas stations on every corner?

NZ =/= Britain, but I can tell you that down here roundabouts are fairly common near malls. Roundabouts in residential streets like the one Philly posted are rare though.

Some sample roundabouts in my part of Christchurch, NZ:
Roundabout with two two-lane roads each splitting to four "lanes" (two each side) at roundabout entry (the road running E-W is also part of State Highway 1) http://maps.google.com/?ll=-43.471797,172.570458&spn=0.001608,0.00515&t=k&z=19 - this is a relatively common roundabout type in NZ on the busier roads, splitting each lane into two at the roundabout (left-turning/straight and straight/right-turning) does wonders when it comes to keeping traffic flowing on a busy two-lane road. I believe NZTA is planning on widening the E-W road to four lanes the whole way along it, however that won't change how the roundabout works

A more conventional roundabout that's two lanes the whole way through http://maps.google.com/?ll=-43.494093,172.607853&spn=0.000804,0.002575&t=k&z=20

Another roundabout that's two lanes everywhere http://maps.google.com/?ll=-43.481609,172.593371&spn=0.000804,0.002575&t=k&z=20

A slightly more unusual roundabout in shape, two two-lane roads and one 4-lane http://maps.google.com/?ll=-43.488284,172.589298&spn=0.001607,0.00515&t=k&z=19

Roundabouts are stupidly easy to understand as well, not sure how Americans can possibly find them confusing - the only road rules we have in NZ regarding them is that you must give way to anybody on the roundabout that's coming from your right, and signal left once you pass the exit prior to the exit you want to take. Very simple rules regarding their use, and they do their job very well 👍

 

[Keef]

What is this I don't even...

This picture happens to be in the middle of nowhere, but this road design is common in busy suburban areas. The middle lane inside the yellow lines is basically a big left turn lane; you use this to get into all the various parking lots that line the road. Cars going both directions use the same lane. At intersections, this fifth lane creates space for an actual left turn lane.

 

[Sharky.]

See, now that makes no sense.

 

[homeforsummer]

In Seattle we have these interesting mini-roundabouts for uncontrolled intersections that I find rather interesting. Something like 5m across. I guess they're mostly good for slowing traffic across those intersections to prevent two people flying into each other.

http://maps.google.com/?ll=47.654109,-122.331728&spn=0.0014,0.003484&t=k&z=19

In the UK the ones we refer to as "mini roundabouts" are the tiny painted circles that crop up frequently, such as this one:

http://maps.google.com/?ll=54.976647,-1.598275

If the traffic is heavier (rarely is at that particular one) then it's treated as a normal roundabout, so in the UK's case priority to those approaching from the right, but it's small enough that if there's no other traffic you don't need to faff about going around it and you can drive straight over it instead.

There's an equally small one to the north of that one on the same road which is made of concrete and has some streetlights in the middle. That one you can't drive over...

They still work fairly well though. Very occasionally someone will get confused by a mini roundabout, but that's more the individual's fault than the roundabout. They'd get confused about normal junctions too, and traffic lights, and why the sun comes up in the morning.

 

[Moot]

There's some round here that have brick paving sloping up towards a raised central concrete block, you're not supposed to use the brick paving (certainly not at highest point, which is say 2 feet above bottom of the slope) but it is great fun



Roundabout in my nearest city:

It has 7 exits (only 4 marked on the signs as you approach it). The lack of space is where Mini roundabouts are worth their weight in Gold (Yes, Famine, I know that's nothing!) Brighton (the city of above roundabout) has some very narrow streets and and some junctions on quite severe slopes, doesn't stop the mini roundabout though!

But that's not a mini roundabout you have pictured. Mini-roundabouts you can drive over as if they were not there if there are no other cars about, mostly just slightly raised tarmac painted white.
The area you pictured is obviously quite large and a mini-roundabout not needed. Mini's get put in when the space is tight and not enough room for a vehicle to actually drive around it, a bus for example. But many near me they are so tight than even a Smart car would not be able to drive around a painted roundabout, you just have to drive over it and the wrong side of the road, still works perfectly though, it just means always give way to the right, only 1 car can use it at a time.



Edit:
Posted that before I read homeforsummer's post.

 

[Sniffs]

Sharkey: that center turning lane design IS our roundabout i forgot about those. we just had several of these completed around here.

one thing to keep in mind is that there are three layers of Regulations to deal with, AND that they change from State to State. I believe what they call in the US "eminent Domain" might come into play, here, concerning the idea of roundabouts in the US. i'd bet they'd have to pay extra for the land inside the circle.

only thing I'm positive about is that Americans don't "get" something (as in, understand it) unless it's complicated.