Roundabouts

[mikester]

What's worse than a roundabout ?.......
My offering...
Hamilton,Ontario has two main downtown roads east-west. Vital corridors,1,000s of vehicles every day.. For over 7 decades, King street was 4 lanes west, Main street 4 lanes east. All signals 'timed' so you can drive from Dundas to Stoney Creek ( MILES) without stopping.... Easy,efficient, clean...
The idiots have decided to make Main Street TWO WAY ! Think about that for a second, now 4 lanes of west to east traffic (1000s per hour) have to 'merge' into 2 lanes. Morning rush hour will be 'interesting'...
At the SAME TIME, we're getting 'LRT' for about 1/5 of the distance. That's train tracks for electric trains that replace TWO westbound lanes on King Street. NO cars allowed on LRT(it's blocked off...). So now 4 lanes have to merge...Take 4 lanes,say 20 cars long between stoplights,they NOW have to be in TWO lanes, 40 cars long ! And these 'plans' make it more efficient to travel into Hamilton's downtown core ??

idiots....

I have to agree - driving in Hamilton is worse than driving through a roundabout!

I think the same thing can be said about driving anywhere in the GTA these days.

 

[William1]

They were common in New Jersey where I grew up, so I know how to navigate them. The biggest problem that I see with them is those people that don't understand that they have to yield to traffic already in the "circle" or "roundabout". I love it when the local police department stations themselves at the outer edge of the circle and watch for people who "gun it" rather than yield to the cars already moving through the circle.

I too, grew up in NJ. Traffic circles were plentiful but people failed to give right of way or deal with them so they slowly went away in favor of traffic lights. But it seems they are making a comeback though I imagine they will once again go away due to accidents. If... people rationally negotiated them, traffic flow is certainly better than stop lights.
Natonal Lampoon... Eurpoean Vacation "There is Big Ben kids...'

 

[chim]

......................On the topic of traffic intersections look at the Diverging Diamond Intersection. The city near me has a test bridge with this on it and it is the slickest thing. No more trying to turn onto the on ramp of the interstate across a busy intersection or waiting for a turn arrow to allow you through. Also you get to go through a Chicane if you are continuing straight and those are always fun.

Here's a gem near here. Google Earth picture. This is an area I've been passing through for decades. You need to go through it a few times to get used to driving what feels like "the wrong way".

 

[chim]

I'm not sure, but they may have mounted this one sideways:

View attachment 83980

Are you sure that's a traffic sign? Looks more like a symbol for one of the 78 lesser-known genders

 

[NCL4701]

I never saw one of those crossovers before I went to Sarasota last fall. When I first saw it, I wondered WTF?

We have one of those “diverging diamond” interchanges one exit west of our exit. I fully admit I’m part of the problem and one of those people that everyone around me hates on the rare occasions I utilize it. I can’t seem to figure out what lane I need to be in until I’m about 12’ from wherever I need to exit and I know if I go the wrong direction long enough to turn around it will happen again on the next attempt so I just go where I need to go regardless who or what is in the way at the moment.

I generally get one of two reactions from the driver’s nearby: most commonly an understanding look and wave because they’re just as confused as I am; some expression of a mixture of anger and fear which I take willingly as a justifiable response. Yell, honk, gesture; all deserved. It’s one of those times I’ve found it handy, whether true or not, to look like someone whose IQ is relatively low but caliber of handgun in their truck is relatively high.

 

[Mark_BX25D]

I never saw one of those crossovers before I went to Sarasota last fall.

We have one near me, in fact, I was on it today. Looks crazy but the move traffic better and are much safer than standard intersections.


Change is not bad. Change is not good. Different is not bad. Different is not good.

What matters is the results we get.

Roundabouts and those crossover intersections have proven themselves conclusively. They take a bit of getting used to, but they deliver better results.

 

[D2Cat]

We have one near me, in fact, I was on it today. Looks crazy but the move traffic better and are much safer than standard intersections.


Change is not bad. Change is not good. Different is not bad. Different is not good.

What matters is the results we get.

Roundabouts and those crossover intersections have proven themselves conclusively. They take a bit of getting used to, but they deliver better results.

Is that an opinion or a fact?

 

[Mark_BX25D]

Is that an opinion or a fact?

It's a fact. Look it up. They work.

It's one of those odd cases where a weird idea turned out to be a really good idea.

 

[Biker1mike]

Here's a gem near here. Google Earth picture. This is an area I've been passing through for decades. You need to go through it a few times to get used to driving what feels like "the wrong way".

That's easy. Try this one while pulling an RV and the wife as co-pilot is trying to give lane directions. The mixing bowl Washington DC.

 

[The Evil Twin]

Familiarity is key. They work well but only when everyone knows what to do. Coming from Washington DC (and still going in for business in occasion) they are second nature. In the burbs, it's natural selection. Lol. We used to have a roundie just down the street. I would see all 4 cars stop, cars not yield, cars TURN LEFT and even make a U turn. Lol.

 

[Botamon]

Familiarity is key. They work well but only when everyone knows what to do. Coming from Washington DC (and still going in for business in occasion) they are second nature. In the burbs, it's natural selection. Lol. We used to have a roundie just down the street. I would see all 4 cars stop, cars not yield, cars TURN LEFT and even make a U turn. Lol.

Familiarity...and sobriety.

Far from the nearest big city in rural Nevada, two major highways intersect. For as long as I can remember, there was a stop sign and blinking red stop light to mark the intersection. All sides had to stop. Not long ago the state had the brilliant idea to replace the stop sign/red light with a round-a-bout. In the middle of the roundabout they put some kind of "artistic" sculpture made out of big boulders if I remember correctly. In the past year 4 people have died when they blew through the round-a-bout and smacked into the art work in the center.

 

[Freeheeler]

If you want to learn to 'drag a knee' on your motorcycle, a 2 am practice session on your local round-a-bout is the way to go. Gotta make sure there aren't any cops or traffic around when you practice getting that right knee down though

 

[Benhameen]

They have added two in our area within the last few years. One in front of my sisters house. They would have accidents there on a weekly basis. It’s one of the reasons they changed this particular intersection, to slow down the traffic.
I have found that they work well but only when everyone knows the “rules”. I’ve often thought there should be sometime of public service announcement letting everyone know how they work.

 

[Biker1mike]

If you want to learn to 'drag a knee' on your motorcycle, a 2 am practice session on your local round-a-bout is the way to go. Gotta make sure there aren't any cops or traffic around when you practice getting that right knee down though

My last two near misses where in round a bout. Starts as two lanes, down to single lane at the straight ahead.
Leaned hard down too sweep the left in the outer lane. At the exit fast switch to straight up and over to the right. Twice a car in the far left lane decided they were in the wrong lane, Instead of going around the circle again they turned late and well into my space.
First time I gunned it and ran to the shoulder. Second time I was jammed and had to brake while leaned and try not to go under the mini van.
Kept the shiny side up each time but it was far to close for me. Hard to be defensive when you are already leaned and where you are supposed to be.

L am okay with round-a-bouts but hate the idiots that do not understand the concept.

 

[sheepfarmer]

I hate them where I am unfamiliar with how a particular one is constructed, and each is different around here. There is always the moment of panic when there are 2 entering lanes, and I don't know which lane will let me exit where I want.

 

[wgator]

The only experience I have with a roundabout was a couple or six years ago at NAS North Island. It was a 2 lane roundabout that was basically a combination of chicken and figure 8 race to get to the exit you needed. Who was gonna be the first to let off?

 

[D2Cat]

My last two near misses where in round a bout. Starts as two lanes, down to single lane at the straight ahead.
Leaned hard down too sweep the left in the outer lane. At the exit fast switch to straight up and over to the right. Twice a car in the far left lane decided they were in the wrong lane, Instead of going around the circle again they turned late and well into my space.
First time I gunned it and ran to the shoulder. Second time I was jammed and had to brake while leaned and try not to go under the mini van.
Kept the shiny side up each time but it was far to close for me. Hard to be defensive when you are already leaned and where you are supposed to be.

L am okay with round-a-bouts but hate the idiots that do not understand the concept.

You must also have a tough time with some newbies who post on this forum then!

 

[ctfjr]

My last two near misses where in round a bout. Starts as two lanes, down to single lane at the straight ahead.
Leaned hard down too sweep the left in the outer lane. At the exit fast switch to straight up and over to the right. Twice a car in the far left lane decided they were in the wrong lane, Instead of going around the circle again they turned late and well into my space.
. . . .

This is the same reason I never rode in the right hand lane on a divided highway. When you come to an exit some genius is going to decide, at the last instant, to take it - from the left lane - whether you are there or not.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Locally we have real busy #6 highway south joining the super busy #403 highway east ,IN THE HIGH SPEED LANE ( left of 3), kinda blindly too.
Always wondered what 'engineer' decided THAT was a 'great' design......

 

[aaluck]

They do work if you know how to use them. I spend three years in England and I can tell you that as stated above, they keep the traffic moving.

I would much rather keep moving at an intersection than sit at a red light for two minutes.

My trip to Home Depot alone would be 8-10 minutes shorter.