Round Abouts on Road

[luvrbus]

How many of you guys like those as the heading says,Az is nuts using round and round things, when going from Camp Verde to Cottonwood (9 miles) they have 7 of the dumb things in 6 miles.The Oak Valley going to Sedona is even worse from I 17 what is the purpose?

[Jim Blackwood]

Haven't driven them in a bus yet so that might be a little different but they are fairly common locally. Some people love 'em, some people hate 'em. I'm in favor. Generally there is no need to stop when going through unless some brainless wonder up ahead can't tell they don't have stop signs on them. You watch traffic, pick your spot, and smoothly merge in. No real problem. Generally people make room if they have to. Much quicker than stopping and waiting for a light.

Jim

[Iceni John]

Roundabouts are fun!   I grew up with them, so they're no big deal.   I'm always amazed that so many Americans hate them or don't understand them or are afraid of them.   There's good reason that they're ubiquitous everywhere else:  they're safer and they cause less disruption to traffic flow than stop signs or traffic lights.   When I'm riding my bicycle I much prefer a roundabout instead of the anarchic free-for-all of 4-way stop signs here, where it seems that the size and cost of the car or SUV determines who goes first, assuming they even bother to stop at all.   I did however see one roundabout in CA that had traffic lights on it, which is just plain stupid!

John   

[uncle ned]

Roundabouts are not to bad.  just a little rough when you go strait through.

uncle ned

[freds]

Roundabouts are not to bad.  just a little rough when you go strait through.

uncle ned

LOL!!!

[richard5933]

They've added lots of them in Wisconsin. Statistic show that they increase traffic flow and decrease accidents, especially T-bone type accidents.

Around here, even after a decade or more since the current spate of round-about construction, people simply don't know how to drive through one. Not at all uncommon to see drivers coming to a complete stop, even when no traffic is coming on the circle. Then you've got drivers who insist on waiting till there is no traffic on the circle at all, seemingly unaware that they're expected to merge into the openings between cars to drive through them.

Driving the bus through the smaller ones around here was always fun since they were built too small and you had to jump the sloped curb in the center with your rear tires (they are designed for trucks to do that). Or, the two lane round-abouts they built near my house where you're forced to switch from the outer lane to the inner lane halfway around the circle to reach the exit you want. With the bus I usually took both lanes going through those, like most of the truck drivers are doing so they can prevent someone trying to skirt around them in the blind spot.

Conceptually I like them, but I do wish the road builders around here built them big enough for the traffic they're expected to handle (especially on marked truck routes.)

[luvrbus]

Most round abouts in AZ have no traffic feeding from the sides just the stright through traffic, it is just stupid we have one in the middle of the desert at Golden Shores there is no traffic in Golden Valley, Houston where I grew up had a few back in the 50's era lol I hated the one at Washburn Tunnel going across the Ship channel to Pasadena 

[lostagain]

There was a big traffic circle (as we used to call it) in the '70s at the turn off to Banff off the Trans Canada Hwh. The Japanese  tourists in the rental cars often went around it the wrong way because they drive on the left over there. Entertaining! You had to watch out for them...

Clifford, get used to them. They are everywhere now.

[windtrader]

it's like why are we the only major country in the world to use inches and feet while the rest of the world figured out metric was a bit easier to use. Ditto for roundabouts. Only Americans enter one and scream WTF, what do I do? LOL

[tr206]

I drove truck in Iraq back in 05 and 06 they had some huge roundabouts there I'm guessing 1/4 mile in diameter maybe a bit smaller anyway they were big enough to have people selling truck/car tires, gas/diesel mostly in 5 gallon plastic jugs, propane, fruits etc around the inside and outside the roundabout. Here is a couple of picture not of the roundabout but what these little businesses looked like I was busy driving around them to take pictures of them.

[epretot]

I'm opposed to the ones with no curb or landscaping. Why?

Because I have seen several people drive over the middle. The one I'm thinking of is just a domed shaped piece of concrete.

[bobofthenorth]

How many of you guys like those ...........

Put me in the "Like 'em" camp.  They're getting more and more common up here and - as someone has already pointed out - unless you get behind a nimrod who thinks they're a stop sign they can be pretty efficient. There's one by the Victoria Airport where they've stuck two of them side by side like a figure 8. That one got my attention the first time I saw it but even it works pretty well.  Mexicans love 'em but they make great big bastards with 5,6,7 exits heading off at odd angles. Get stuck in one of them with 3 or 4 lanes and you may have to go round twice to get out again.

[lvmci]

I dislike them. It always seem they are an accident waiting to happen. Relying on other drivers awareness is dangerous,  lvmci...

[RJ]

Interesting chatter about these traffic engineering marvels. Personally, I'd love to have a go at the Magic Roundabout in England - watch the clip below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kafx_GGHqVg&t=6s

[CrabbyMilton]

They are ok in certain areas but the main problem is that many dumb dumbs don't know how to use them properly. The people already in the roundabout have the right of way. You can circle the thing all day if you want but you still have to wait your turn to enter. Lesser traveled roads are ideal for these otherwise they can congest.