Topic: Rise of Roundabouts in the USA

[Spheric]

Interesting article in the NYT about the increasing use of roundabouts south of the border.

One of the more memorable quotes:
“Just because something works in one culture, doesn’t mean it’s going to work in another culture,” said Mr. Gernert, who teaches about world cultures at nearby Cedar Crest High School. “In our country, we don’t hang animals in our storefronts like other cultures. Food is different. Transportation, patience, people, their temperaments, are different from country to country.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/19/us/19roundabouts.html?scp=2&sq=roundabout&st=cse

[wing]

They recently built a large (2 lane) roundabout in East Ottawa (Orleans)  to reduce the traffic backups of the large intersection.  It has been open for about a week now.  So far traffic has been worse because people do not understand how it works!

[Shnak]

I was hesitant at first when they added a bunch of roundabouts near where I live, but now, I realize how quicker they are than a traditional set of lights would've been. Only problem are the idiots who can't follow directions and decide to turn and cut off people when they shouldn't, or go straight when they're supposed to turn.

Don't blame the roundabouts, blame the idiots in them!!

[Shnak]

They recently built a large (2 lane) roundabout in East Ottawa (Orleans)  to reduce the traffic backups of the large intersection.  It has been open for about a week now.  So far traffic has been worse because people do not understand how it works!

See my previous post regarding idiots who can't follow signs...

[Mike]

The ony place I regularly see roundabouts is in Edmonton.  I consider myslef an aware/good driver and even I am worried about using theroundabout wrong since I rarely get to drive in them. 

[Gardiner Westbound]

Roundabouts are okay for locals who know how and where to exit. They are a horror story for most others.

What could possibly go wrong? Motorists in a herd of cars, trucks and buses circling to the left at 30 mph or more while watching for pedestrians, looking to the right for their exit, trying to change lanes and jumping off all within a short distance?

Conversely, the few roundabouts I encountered in Toronto were all four-way stops. What's the point?
 

[safristi]

..IT is a LEARNINGCURVECIRCLE...................ring a ring a rosey.....all dive in.............

[wing]

Conversely, the few roundabouts I encountered in Toronto were all four-way stops. What's the point?

Those are traffic circles not roundabouts.

[wing]

http://www.alaskaroundabouts.com/mythfact1.html

[safristi]

Conversely, the few roundabouts I encountered in Toronto were all four-way stops. What's the point?

Those are traffic circles not roundabouts.

.................


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[ovr50]

I was hesitant at first when they added a bunch of roundabouts near where I live, but now, I realize how quicker they are than a traditional set of lights would've been. Only problem are the idiots who can't follow directions and decide to turn and cut off people when they shouldn't, or go straight when they're supposed to turn.

Don't blame the roundabouts, blame the idiots in them!!

Agree 100%. Several new ones here. They move traffic far faster than the old 4 way stop system. But the idiots persist in being idiots - they don't enter/exit properly, and if they signal at all, it's usually incorrect. I like them.

[tpl]

Coming from the UK I am completely comfortable with roundabouts. Driving in Europe, France mostly, over the last 20 years as well just reinforces that.  Not to say that some roundabouts are not intimidating... just try the Place de la Concorde in Paris!

One flavour of roundabout that could well be employed in Ontario is the UK one of having a roundabout ABOVE an expressway at the exit/entrance.  The idea being that all off ramps are slightly uphill to help slow up the trucks and all on ramps are downhill to aid acceleration. Wouldn't take up much more room than the current "trumpet" design with its two separate unsynchronised ( often) stop lights and would just work better.

[5 Wheel Drive]

When we went to Americade last June, we stayed in Saratoga-Malta.  The main street there is all 2 lane roundabouts.  Even the on/off from the main street to I87.  They worked great.  The residents there are obviously used to them and know how to use them.  Traffic was a contrant flow.  My friend's Harley dragged it's left floor board in almost every one of them!    

In contrast to here, where I back onto one.  I'm always hearing someone honking at someone else for just entering, and not giving right of way to traffic in the roundabout.  But, it's getting better, people are getting more used to it.

[CatsEye68]

They are the current darlings of traffic engineers. But in most cases where I have seen them they are poorly designed or are used in places where other solutions would work better. They are also hugely wasteful of real estate and are difficult for most drivers to understand.

[tpl]

I don't see how a roundabout can be difficult to understand.   You enter it with a bit of a right turn, you drive around a gentle left hand curve and then turn right again when you get to your exit.

You don't actually NEED to change lanes or even signal if you choose not to.

[99 Silver]

I think they work well once people learn how to use them properly. 

I developed a large subdivision with a collector road running downhill through it and just knew that speeding was going to be an issue because the road travelled through a natural area for a while.

I fought for over a year with the Kitchener staff over lane widths and aligment.  The traffic people were pusshing for a straighter alignment and wider widths to move more traffic. I countered with the arguement that the City was besieged with complaints about speeding on similar roads (there ultimate solution was to later install straffic calming islands and paint narrower lanes by adding  bike lanes).

There is an intersection with another collector road in the subdivision and I pushed for a roundabout and met great resistance.  I eventually went political and won, but had to post a letter of credit for $370k to cover the cost of tearing out the roundabout and installing traffic signal if the city found it unacceptable.  There were a few hiccups at first as this one was the first one in the Region and drivers were unsure how to use it.  It caught on and now they are building them all over and even removing signals and installing a roundabout when they improve some intersections.  Some of them now have three lanes in them which is more intimidating to drive through at first.

[neil]

Look kids, big ben!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAgX6qlJEMc

[Schmengie]

We have 2 mini-roundabouts here, neither of them any more than 40 - 50m across.  A lot of people don't bother to slow down before they enter them, and because our roundabouts are so small,  they're literally on top of you before you know it. I saw one old guy in a pickup drive right over the middle of one like it wasn't even there. 4-way stops, roundabouts, even traffic lights don't mean a thing to the ever-expanding population of the clueless.     Sigh....

[No H2O]

See my previous post regarding idiots who can't follow signs...

You shouldn't need signs. There are none at the majority of four-way intersections within residential areas in Europe. Seems to work. The fact that most drivers do not come to a full stop at our signs...does that not tell you something.

Then they have "signless towns" in parts of Europe where accidents have been reduced drastically since they implemented the system.

[No H2O]

They are also hugely wasteful of real estate and are difficult for most drivers to understand.

Your average NA driver has a tough enough time understanding what a passing lane is, so what do you expect.