Round Abouts on Road

[Jim Blackwood]

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

That's just mental.

Jim

[Ed Hackenbruch]

The first roundabout that i ever saw was in Bangkok while on R&R from Vietnam in 71. I had hired a car with a driver for the week and he took me around town. We went thru this thing which seemed huge to me with a lot of lanes and a lot of traffic. Seemed like we went around it about 3 times before we got out of it!  At the time i couldn't figure out how it worked, all i saw was chaos.   Later on the guy scared the crap out of me....we were going about 50 miles an hour down a narrow alley with a bus coming at us and just as we got to it he cut into a small wide spot that you couldn't see until you were right there. Thought for sure we were gonna be a hood ornament......he just laughed.

[luvrbus]

I am not a fan you are running 70 MPH and come up to a 35 mph circle ,on the lower Verde road they have 2 of the damn things in 300 ft of each other

[TomC]

Here in Nampa, Idaho (20 miles west of Boise) you can tell when traffic is getting heavier. First is a 4 way stop sign. Then they change it to a round about (that are
almost too tight to get my Kenworth around), then they change it to a signal.
The problem is it takes months to build the round abouts. But once done, they are much faster than 4 way stop signs. Good Luck, TomC

[CrabbyMilton]

That's just mental.

Jim

Yes, that would take some getting used to. Almost like a couple roundabouts within a grand roundabout.

[luvrbus]

Works the opposite on 89a from I 17 through  Oak Creek on Sat and Sun they back up traffic for miles  a 2 hour drive is now a 4 hour trip,those round about cost a million dollars to build here in AZ probably more in other areas.They would be all right in subdivision or maybe a city street but on major highways naw makes no sense to me,they were going to do some on 95 I live off from but people stopped ADOT from building the round abouts here

[buswarrior]

Roundabout beats the hell out of being stopped for a red light, just because the timer went off.

And they are good for catching the distracted, the drunk, or otherwise incompetant amongst us.

If they drive over the middle of the circle, with all that preceding signage... sure glad i wasn't broken down in the live lane in front of 'em!!!

Just some change to get used to, and practice getting the bus thru the obstacle course unscathed.

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

[Dave5Cs]

We really liked them when we were in Ireland in 2005 they had them everywhere but unlike in Kansas people don't stop when going into them. They are used to them there and just egress into them and move to an inner lane if needed and then out as they need to leave and out. Very fast way to get around.

Here people stop and wait to get in and then freak out when they don't get it and cut people off when trying to get out, LOL

[luvrbus]

Some one has to yield they have signs that tell you to yield , the dumb asses with ADOT here have the main stream traffic yielding to the arterial streets when a truck comes out and blocks the lane you stop,ps most of drivers here are from CA and it makes for a show.I understand the concept, it is about price so they can waste money on other BS   

[richard5933]

Some one has to yield they have signs that tell you to yield , the dumb asses with ADOT here have the main stream traffic yielding to the arterial streets when a truck comes out and blocks the lane you stop,ps most of drivers here are from CA and it makes for a show.I understand the concept, it is about price so they can waste money on other BS   

Price, and safety. Statistically speaking there are fewer accidents and those that do occur are less serious/deadly.

[Dave5Cs]

it is about price so they can waste money on other BS   

Yep they sure seems to be doing that these days, LOL

[chessie4905]

not roundabout related, but I like the flashing yellow lights to warn the upcoming traffic light is about to change. very prevalent in Canada and Alaska. Only a few I've  seen back home.

[luvrbus]

I have had traffic control lighting on some Walmart's contracts they can cost upwards of $500,000 plus it is estimated one cost $5,000 per year for power + maintenance,safety is BS bottom line it's saves money lol but cites will spend Walmart's money  for traffic lights and lane widening   

[luvrbus]

not roundabout related, but I like the flashing yellow lights to warn the upcoming traffic light is about to change. very prevalent in Canada and Alaska. Only a few I've  seen back home.

We have those on 95 north of Wickenburg they are nice when driving a RV

[richard5933]

I have had traffic control lighting on some Walmart's contracts they can cost upwards of $500,000 plus it is estimated one cost $5,000 per year for power + maintenance,safety is BS bottom line it's saves money lol but cites will spend Walmart's money  for traffic lights and lane widening   

This might explain installing a roundabout on a brand new intersection, but price cannot justify replacing an existing intersection with traffic controls with a brand new roundabout. In these situations (which are the majority around here) the cheaper route is to keep things as they are and not rebuild with a roundabout.

Here's a summary from WIDOT:

https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/safety/safety-eng/roundabouts/faq.aspx

There are also lots of articles addressing just the safety aspects. Very few fatalities on roundabouts as compared to traditional intersections, with a near-total reduction in the number of T-bone collisions which often kill people.