101–110 of 316 posts
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In the UK they are called mini roundabouts, and are sometimes just painted on: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mini-roundabout.jp...
Painted roundabouts will be invisible when it snows.
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I'm ok with most roundabouts. However, there is one near me that everyone complains about. There are 3 of them right in a row, but even that isn't the main issue. There is one with 5 places to turn out, which is relatively small and confusing. If you get it wrong it dumps you out on the expressway and it's an almost 9 mile trip to get back to where you originally wanted to go with no other option than to drive the 9…
Don't the exits have signs to say where the exit takes you? In Europe they'd be labeled, and highway onramps will have a different background color to indicate a highway.. Also, keeping your navigation display "north up" is much better than having one that will probably be laggy in a roundabout, confusing you on which exit to take. If all else fails, look at the signage; I remember driving and a passenger not sure if…
Led to quite a bit of ribbing from the passengers so perhaps this is a PEBKAC after all.
I live in the US now, but originally from Ireland. My least favourite part of US road infrastructure is the 4 way stop. They are just not good compared to a roundabout. Half the time the only way you can tell it’s an all way stop is by looking for the back of the stop signs on the perpendicular road. With a roundabout, you only have to look in one direction, and if it’s clear, you don’t even have to stop.
Wait until you find one of the distressingly common places where they build a roundabout and put stop signs on some or all of the entrances.
I live in the US now, but originally from Ireland. My least favourite part of US road infrastructure is the 4 way stop. They are just not good compared to a roundabout. Half the time the only way you can tell it’s an all way stop is by looking for the back of the stop signs on the perpendicular road. With a roundabout, you only have to look in one direction, and if it’s clear, you don’t even have to stop.
> Half the time the only way you can tell it’s an all way stop is by looking for the back of the stop signs on the perpendicular road. Your state is doing it wrong then. Almost every four way stop I've ever seen in the US has a little sign beneath the big octagon which says "4-way". Anyways, I have nothing against roundabouts. But I do have issue with some states (looking at you, Wisconsin) which are obsessed with te…
I live in the US now, but originally from Ireland. My least favourite part of US road infrastructure is the 4 way stop. They are just not good compared to a roundabout. Half the time the only way you can tell it’s an all way stop is by looking for the back of the stop signs on the perpendicular road. With a roundabout, you only have to look in one direction, and if it’s clear, you don’t even have to stop.
> Half the time the only way you can tell it’s an all way stop is by looking for the back of the stop signs on the perpendicular road. Your state is doing it wrong then. Almost every four way stop I've ever seen in the US has a little sign beneath the big octagon which says "4-way". Anyways, I have nothing against roundabouts. But I do have issue with some states (looking at you, Wisconsin) which are obsessed with te…
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They can eminent domain whatever land they need to expand the intersection.
The area borders wetlands and a very steep hillside where one of the roads intersects. And the regular flow of traffic pre-roundabout was more like 60-65 mph. A roundabout was the correct choice.
The picture of the roundabout from above at the beginning of the article is extra confusing because it doesn't have the final lane markings yet and the ones you can see are misleading. The (presumably) final markings[0] make things less confusing. [0]: https://www.google.com/maps/place/High+Rock+Rd,+Washington+9...
They made a video that explains how to navigate the roundabout, and shows what it will actually look like (with yield markings)[1] [1]: https://youtu.be/07_m7HHiZRw
Where I grew up in a rural part of the US, we had one terrible 4-way intersection between two undevided highways. Over time they added lights, then experimented with different signaling systems, but every day it would back up for several miles in a couple directions, and add up to 30 minutes to some commutes. Then there were the inevitable accidents as people tried to rush it, making things worse all around.
They replaced it with a roundabout about a decade ago, the population in the area also has increased dramatically in those years as farms turned into suburbs, but the backup is entirely gone. Theres no need any longer to maintain lights and switching systems, and the accidents are almost nil. Nobody has died there in years. People complained at first because it was "weird" then they realized they were complaining at home a half hour ealier than they would have been, so they stopped.
They've since added a few more in the area and have even gotten very experimental with a double diamond interchange that's also done a lot of good. There's something in the water at the planners office. Seeing that transformation though and the immediate benefits has turned me into a lifetime fan of the roundabout.
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Online I see this mentality that roundabouts are great no matter what and it seems really strange to me. It really depends on the design of the roundabout and the traffic conditions. Where I grew up there are a lot of roundabouts, but many of them are so dangerously designed I started actively avoiding them. It’s not that you can’t poorly design a four way stop, but it seems to be much less common, for whatever reaso…
They absolutely are. Even if they don't prevent all collisions, they turn T-bones into glancing hits and so save a lot of lives. The worst roundabout beats the best 4-way stop any day of the week. Sometimes there really are easy answers.
I like them, but it is a mistake to blindly install them anywhere possible.
Whats not mentioned in the article is that this particular intersection has a (15mph residential access road - top right) (25 mph farmland road - bottom) (50mph country highway - left and right) Previously, only drivers from the 15mph and 25mph roads had to stop! Visibility coming from the south would also be terrible to check for incoming highway drivers (left is blocked by foliage, right the road curves out of sigh…
They can eminent domain whatever land they need to expand the intersection.