Roundabouts

[renovation]

do you mind driving though roundabouts intersections or would you perfer traffic lights ?
i dont mind them most the time .but sometimes i thing there just ass-9 like were they place them one right next to each other as in this picture below or were its just a intersection that use to have a traffic light. and there are a lot of old folks who really have a hard time with them and come to a complete stop before going though them.

http://tile24.mqcdn.com/map/Scale4700/34/779/20/79.gifhttp://tile21.mqcdn.com/map/Scale4700/34/779/20/80.gif
at this one there only like 50-100 yards between them .

[Cubsfan]

They're fine if I'm the only one around. When all the other people who don't seem to understand them are in them, they're not so fun. Hell, around here they had to replace a 4 way stop with stoplights because people didn't understand how to use a 4 way stop

[guiseppewv]

I wish they would replace more intersections with roundabouts. If people would learn how to use them I think they would improve traffic flow.

[ramazank2]

They save electricity(not much with new LED based stoplights) and cut down emmissions from car idleing. But I still don't like them...

[guiseppewv]

And they save a bit of dough because you don't have to erect stoplights.

[renovation]

im also been seeing less and less street lights going up at intersections. :(

[uncledaddy]

They don't bother me so much. I prefer the 4 way stop. But, true, many don't even understand them.

[Cubsfan]

So, I was out for a run yesterday, and happened upon an intersection around 4:30. Roundabouts really, really, really suck for pedestrians.

[guiseppewv]

I am surprised there were not Ped X-ings before each entrance to the roundabout.

[Cubsfan]

I am surprised there were not Ped X-ings before each entrance to the roundabout.

Getting across the entrances wasn't too hard, but it was the steady stream of cars exiting the roundabout that made it hard to get across.

[guiseppewv]

Definitely it is the exits that are more difficult because you never know what exit they are going to take. I am still surprised there were no ped x-ings near there. Isn't CO normally a very ped friendly area?

[ray]

it depends on how BIG the roundabouts are. in washington DC most of them are large enough that it probably does improve traffic flow. But i have seen tiny ones that just screw everything up

[Cubsfan]

Definitely it is the exits that are more difficult because you never know what exit they are going to take. I am still surprised there were no ped x-ings near there. Isn't CO normally a very ped friendly area?

Normally. Was better when it was a 4 way stop. There's crosswalks, but I think part of the problem is that, like you say, I don't know what exit people are going to take, and part of the problem is that because the drive is going in a circle, pedestrians aren't in your field of view until you're almost there. This was rush hour too, so traffic flow was pretty high, but as a pedestrian it was quite annoying.

[guiseppewv]

it depends on how BIG the roundabouts are. in washington DC most of them are large enough that it probably does improve traffic flow. But i have seen tiny ones that just screw everything up

Please ignore 95% of the DC ones - the planners in DC are idiots. Only an idiot puts stoplights in a round about. The whole point in a roundabout is to eliminate stop lights and improve traffic flow. DC payed ~$18M to redo the lights in one of the round abouts (Logan's circle?) but I cannot remember the one. /end rant against DC's stupidity

[guiseppewv]

Normally. Was better when it was a 4 way stop. There's crosswalks, but I think part of the problem is that, like you say, I don't know what exit people are going to take, and part of the problem is that because the drive is going in a circle, pedestrians aren't in your field of view until you're almost there. This was rush hour too, so traffic flow was pretty high, but as a pedestrian it was quite annoying.

I do understand what you are saying. Usually on the roundabouts (at least the ones I am familiar with) without lights the ped xing is offset from the round about to allow the car to get out of the roundabout and to allow the driver to have time to see and stop for the ped.

Check out this Q&A site on roundabouts: http://www.iihs.org/research/qanda/roundabouts.html


Roundabouts generally are safer for pedestrians than traditional intersections. In a roundabout, pedestrians walk on sidewalks around the perimeter of the circulatory roadway. If it is necessary for pedestrians to cross the roadway, they cross only one direction of traffic at a time. In addition, crossing distances are relatively short, and traffic speeds are lower than at traditional intersections. Studies in Europe indicate that, on average, converting conventional intersections to roundabouts can reduce pedestrian crashes by about 75 percent.Single-lane roundabouts, in particular, have been reported to involve substantially lower pedestrian crash rates than comparable intersections with traffic signals.