Roundabouts

[Mark_BX25D]

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.

We have one of those near me. Crazy!

And it works very well, too.

 

[skeets]

They are about the stupidest things money has ever been wasted on

 

[PoTreeBoy]

They are rapidly gaining in popularity because they WORK. Even with all of the idiots who can't figure them out, they still work very well.'

We had some roundabouts put in on my former commute route. Took a huge delay every morning and turned it into ZERO delay even on the business mornings, plus reduced accidents. Whereas before we'd have two or three serious accidents per year at that intersection, now there are none. Maybe once in a long while a drunk will do himself damage, but that same drunk wouldn't have been very nice with a traffic light situation, either.

I hated them when they first arrived, but I have seen the difference and I'm sold.

Yeah, they do. The first pair really helped a morning/afternoon gridlock.

The town where I live now installed the first one a couple of years ago. The final touch on the last mayor's downtown redevelopment project. Two-laner. Idiots on the loop are either yielding (stopping) to entering traffic or going around on two wheels to see who they can nail.

 

[chim]

I grew up in Jersey where 'circles' are (or were) common. There is a big difference between a traffic circle and the current 'roundabout' in that the roundabout is a much tighter circumference. The ones that are being built where I live, including one that replaced a well functioning traffic circle, have two tight lanes around them and that causes a lot of confusion and occasional crashes because people don't know which lane they should use. Even drivers who understand how to use the lanes get caught up because the roundabout is so small there is very little space to move between the inside lane and the outside lane to get out of the roundabout. Also, that tight circumference forces tractor trailers to use both lanes within the roundabout in order to be able to get around it. I believe the implementation of these tight roundabouts is intended to help slow traffic as part of my states policy of changing roads to decrease average speed.

The first time I saw anything along these lines was the circle at Somers Point when I was a kid (and way too young to drive). Thought that was a crazy thig to drive through. Just boring intersection now.

 

[Mark_BX25D]

Idiots on the loop are either yielding (stopping) to entering traffic or going around on two wheels to see who they can nail.

Yes, and they still move traffic better than a conventional intersection!

 

[58Ford]

^^ with less fatalities & injuries!

 

[Daren Todd]

Another member here and I both live in the city of roundabouts The city planners need a nut punt. They are every where and more installed on a regular basis.

The worst ones in town are right off one of the exits from the interstate. 2 travel lanes, multiple options for which lane goes where, and you need a class to navigate them since one goes right into a second one.

 

[Mark_BX25D]

The worst ones in town are right off one of the exits from the interstate. 2 travel lanes, multiple options for which lane goes where, and you need a class to navigate them since one goes right into a second one.

There is no idea so good that it cannot be ruined by a politician or a committee.

 

[Daren Todd]

There is no idea so good that it cannot be ruined by a politician or a committee.

I posted a drawing of the two roundabouts of death on here somewhere. it's a cross between frogger and Mario karts driv8ng around the darn things

 

[GreensvilleJay]

idiots here spent 8 million for a roundabout to replace a 'bad ' light controlled intersection....
..they ended ADDING a SECOND light and STILL there's collisions and chaos. One person entering at 6 oclock, drove LEFT to get to the 9 oclock exit...... actually made it !! unlike several others. Naturally it's NOT big enough for the 100s of 53' trailers using it daily....
Sadly 'they' could have saved 7 million just by adding a second road, 2100' away....
idiots..... ZERO common sense...

 

[ACDII]

ROund abouts are nothing. It's those by the interstates where the lanes switch sides that have me going WTF? How the hell are THOSE supposed to help traffic? They still have stop lights and still sit and wait. Would rather have a roundabout. The only time where I have to be really cautious on those is when I have my RV behind me as I need just a little more room between cars.

 

[radas]

Michigan DOT loves their roundabouts and we've been accumulating quite a few over the years. I don't mind them if there's limited traffic, but people do go full-imbecile when they enter them frequently. My favorites are when people stop in the middle to let others enter, use the yield sign as a stop sign, or switch lanes in the roundabout and cause accidents.

 

[radas]

idiots here spent 8 million for a roundabout to replace a 'bad ' light controlled intersection....
..they ended ADDING a SECOND light and STILL there's collisions and chaos. One person entering at 6 oclock, drove LEFT to get to the 9 oclock exit...... actually made it !! unlike several others. Naturally it's NOT big enough for the 100s of 53' trailers using it daily....
Sadly 'they' could have saved 7 million just by adding a second road, 2100' away....
idiots..... ZERO common sense...

That's local government for you... Any excuse to waste taxpayer money on useless projects and excuses to expand.

 

[lugbolt]

oh the little bitty town I moved to finally built their ONE roundabout.

Nobody lives out there, just a set of streets that go to nowhere. LOL!

Another couple towns over, there is one roundabout. It is a well-traveled dirt road that goes round about a big hickory tree. They tree lives right in the middle of the road so they just made the road go around it. Everyone around here knows of it. I'll see if I can snap a pic next time I'm out there. It's hilarious, it's southern engineering at it's best, and it's ingenious--all at the same time.

 

[Lil Foot]

 

[NCL4701]

They’re the traffic control du jour here. Didn’t like them at first but they do move traffic well. Only ones I continue to dislike intensely are the ones that are too small. There are a few vehicles on the road larger than a Toyota Camry. There are several nearby when I go through with a 27’ camper the front wheels of my truck are at the outside curb and the trailer tires are running over the inside curb. Those are constantly needing maintenance due to large vehicles damaging them. If they’d make all of them large enough to fit a 53’ tractor trailer they would be fine.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

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....

 

[Bill hopkins]

We have'em too. First one I saw looked good-second time I saw it, it had tractor trailer tire skid marks right thru it, tore all to bits..lol,lol,lol

 

[dlsmith]

ROund abouts are nothing. It's those by the interstates where the lanes switch sides that have me going WTF? How the hell are THOSE supposed to help traffic? They still have stop lights and still sit and wait. Would rather have a roundabout. The only time where I have to be really cautious on those is when I have my RV behind me as I need just a little more room between cars.

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

 

[ctfjr]

In nearby New Haven they put a couple on a road that borders a park with speed humps before them. The whole purpose was to slow drivers down.