Anyone like traffic circles-roundabouts?

[LD1]

More and more are popping up around here too.

I actually like them if they are done right. And I think the most effective ones are the ones in the rural or suburban areas actually.

They keep traffic flowing, rather than the stop and go of a light or a 4-way.

And the ones that are done right in the rural areas as opposed to a light or 4-way are actually safer. There is little to no risk of a 60mph t-bone. Sure, at first there may be "more" accidents but they are less severe as everyone is going the same general direction and at about half the speed.

 

[deezler]

Here in Michigan, the intersection with the most accidents in the state was changed to a roundabout, don't believe they're intended to reduce the number of accidents, rather eliminate the 90 degree impacts.

Was that the ellsworth/state intersection south of Ann Arbor? I used to commute through there, and the stop light setup they had before had a bunch of double left turn lanes, and took a full 5 minutes to cycle through. So yeah, if you were almost late to work, you ran the sh*t out of the yellow lights. Lots of crashes.

I love roundabouts. I do not like people that are afraid to use them, and stop for nothing, before or within. To be honest I probably drive too fast through most roundabouts, they are fun to blast through.

In areas where they stack a bunch of tiny-radius ones together though... it can feel like endless roundabout hell sometimes. If you live or approach from the west side here, and want to go shopping, you hit 5 in a row. It flows ok, though.

 

[Bearsixty7]

Yep, that's the one I posted a picture of. 44 & 13. I did not like that area.

I actually haven't been through that one.

The little town of Lebanon, MO. 45 miles NE of Springfield, close to where I grew up, put in a roundabout years ago just off the first Lebanon exit. Oh my, so many people hate it, even my Dad (86yo now) still dislikes it. It's a fairly simple one and it's ok for reasons mentioned, during low traffic times you don't wait on a light. They actually did it ok, the inside island is not a 90 degree curb, it's actually a nice curved surface so if you take a trailer through it can gently ride up and not cause any tire damage.
It wasn't until that one came in did I learn that MO. was the first place in the US to use one. Not that MO. is a total backwards/backwoods/hick state, but just not one I would think to be on the "cutting edge", so to speak, on anything.

EDIT: I got the roundabout mixed up with the divergent intersection.

 

[newbury]

I count my self as lucky. My introduction to "traffic circles" per se was when I was about 20. In the Boston area on a road trip from rural Vermont. They were a breeze and fun. But I was on a motorcycle.

It seems most of the "bad ones" I've run across in the US are either made to small or have too many roads entering them to allow traffic to flow smoothly.

I have been "caught" in a few in Wales where the signage was not exactly clear and I circled around several times, much to the consternation of my passengers.

 

[LFP57]

Nice to have you here with us LFP from a yooper.

Thank you! It's nice to be here.

 

[plowhog]

Almost lost my right arm in the roundabout at the Arc de Triomphe in France when I was 17. My friend "Dennis" and I hired a taxi for the afternoon to do some sightseeing, and wound up at the Arc.

It was way too large to photograph from inside the taxi, so we asked the taxi driver to pull over. Gesturing, of course, because we didn't speak French. After he pulled all the way to the right, I opened the right rear passenger door to get out. WHAM!!! A vehicle passing even further on the right knocked the door off its hinges and very nearly took my arm off. Terrified, we grabbed all of our money, threw it at the yelling taxi driver, and ran as fast as we could!

 

[HawkinsHollow]

My vote is that most are better than sitting at a traffic light.

 

[deezler]

Almost lost my right arm in the roundabout at the Arc de Triomphe in France when I was 17. My friend "Dennis" and I hired a taxi for the afternoon to do some sightseeing, and wound up at the Arc.
WHAM!!! A vehicle passing even further on the right knocked the door off its hinges and very nearly took my arm off. Terrified, we grabbed all of our money, threw it at the yelling taxi driver, and ran as fast as we could!

Yikes! I remember visiting the Arc in Paris with my family back in the 90s. It was just a bigger version of our Washington Square arch from NYC, I remember thinking as a kid. But I couldn't get over how many lanes of chaos that roundabout was. Driving through it was an experience.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

Yes. I drive a roundabout twice daily. There's a jogging walking biking path that crosses at the roundabout. State law says you stop for pedestrians. I do. Horns blare.

Round abouts in foriegn countries where pedetrians do not have the right of way work great. Pedestrians know there place in this situation and usually don't try to press there luck.
Stateside I get the horns honking at me also.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Traffic circles were quite common in the northeastern US in the 1940's and 50's. They worked well under light traffic conditions but became a nightmare as traffic flow increased. They were systematically removed over a 40 year period due to the high accident rate.

I guess all the traffic engineers who worked on that project are either retired or dead. Those who are still around must be in a state of shock and those who aren't are turning in their graves at all the new circles being built! I guess history isn't a very good teacher.