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Is the British roundabout conquering the US?
BBC News ^ | 30th June 2011 | Tom Geoghegan

Posted on 07/01/2011 9:59:00 AM PDT by the scotsman

'A roundabout revolution is slowly sweeping the US. The land of the car, where the stop sign and traffic light have ruled for decades, has started to embrace the free-flowing British circular.

A few moments after entering Carmel, it's clear why the city has been described as the Milton Keynes of the US.

As the sat-nav loudly and regularly points out, there's often a roundabout up ahead.

But unlike in the English town famous for them, driving into this pretty city on the outskirts of Indianapolis also involves passing several more under construction.

The city is at the forefront of a dizzying expansion, across several American states, of the circular traffic intersection redesigned in 1960s Britain and then exported globally. About 3,000 have been built in the US in the last 20 years.'

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Indiana; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: circle; european; europeon; sustainable; yourapeon
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To: stayathomemom
How does a pedestrian cross an intersection where traffic flow is constant?

Oh, that's easy.
They'll just install a traffic light on a crosswalk IN BETWEEN the roundabouts.


BRILLIANT!!
61 posted on 07/01/2011 10:43:12 AM PDT by RandallFlagg (Let this chant follow BHO everywhere he goes: "You lie. You lie. You lie.")
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To: Red Badger
We call them ‘traffic circles’.................

Yes, and there is a reason we've been replacing them with signaled intersections over the last 60 years. Americans were generally pretty bad at navigating traffic circles from the outset, an issue which has seen no improvement in the intervening decades given the increasing general level of stupidity on the part of American drivers.
62 posted on 07/01/2011 10:47:21 AM PDT by Milton Miteybad (I am Jim Thompson. {Really.})
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To: Moose4

Yup. Amherst. Pretty little town.

I think the circles work best where there’s a modest but fairly constant traffic flow in both directions. Then there’s a rhythm to them that makes sense. There’s a town near here with one on each side of a freeway overpass, but it’s not a heavily traveled freeway, and there’s a Wal-Mart on one side and a retail strip on the other, and the circles move things along fine.


63 posted on 07/01/2011 10:48:31 AM PDT by Hunton Peck (See my FR homepage for a list of businesses that support WI Gov. Scott Walker)
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To: the scotsman

It’s a safe bet that the Los Alamitos Traffic Circle in Long Beach, Calif. is a boon to body shops. Every time I drive through it, I almost have an accident.


64 posted on 07/01/2011 10:50:40 AM PDT by Fiji Hill
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To: Milton Miteybad

We have two traffic circles here, put in about 15 or so years ago. The city said it was cheaper than a computerized traffic light system at those intersections.................


65 posted on 07/01/2011 10:53:13 AM PDT by Red Badger (Nothing is a 'right' if someone has to give it to you................)
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To: Glenn
We're getting one here in Western PA.

Where are we getting THAT? And who would be stupid enough to want it?

The only one I know of around here is on Corrigan Drive in South Park, where the speed limit is only 15 anyhow. When they first opened the Liberty Bridge there was one at the south end by the tunnel entrance. They quickly figured out it was a traffic bottleneck and removed it.
66 posted on 07/01/2011 10:55:13 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: the scotsman

Having grown up in Africa and lived in the UK haven’t got a problem with roundabouts, but as with all things... really depends on the drivers knowing how to use them properly.

They make sense in the UK given that not many places have orderly grid planned roads, so you may have more than just two roads meeting and a roundabout is the only way to go, most Norht American cities follow a grid system so roundabouts may not be necessary everywhere.


67 posted on 07/01/2011 10:57:08 AM PDT by battousai (Conservatives are racist? YES, I hate stupid white liberals.)
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To: All

Love roundabouts...Lived in England for three months, and after getting used to them, it was great for not having to stop or get stuck behind red lights. But as mentioned, there are not good for every place. High traffic, multi lane intersections may not be good. I see these working better for simple road intersections in the suburbs. Saves on the cost/maintenance of a traffic light, plus it looks better. Not everything European is bad...


68 posted on 07/01/2011 10:57:33 AM PDT by Maringa
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To: Buckeye McFrog
At Ewing Road on Business 376. I guess it's supposed to facilitate travel to and from the airport corridor somehow.
69 posted on 07/01/2011 11:01:28 AM PDT by Glenn (iamtheresistance.org)
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To: Tallguy

I was thinking Martinsville, matter of fact, but Bristol works, too.


70 posted on 07/01/2011 11:01:38 AM PDT by Hunton Peck (See my FR homepage for a list of businesses that support WI Gov. Scott Walker)
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To: Red Badger

Might be cheaper for the city/county. I doubt it’s cheaper for the auto insurers, though. ;-)

I don’t have a big problem with traffic circles myself, but today’s distracted airhead behind the wheel has enough trouble just getting the vehicle down a straight stretch of road without putting a stumbling block in the form of a traffic circle in front of them.


71 posted on 07/01/2011 11:04:19 AM PDT by Milton Miteybad (I am Jim Thompson. {Really.})
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To: Buckeye McFrog
Link to 6/25/2011 article in Post-Gazette about the Ewing Road Roundabout
72 posted on 07/01/2011 11:08:56 AM PDT by Glenn (iamtheresistance.org)
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To: clintonh8r
They require a certain amount discipline and skill that most American drivers lack.

That, and a complete lack of engineering knowledge that even I understand (and I'm not an engineer). In my town (Rio Rancho, NM), they have installed roundabouts. They're too small for any vehicle pulling a trailer, and too small to navigate safely (no reaction time for the idiot entering without yeilding, while thinking you're the one who's supposed to stop for him).

73 posted on 07/01/2011 11:10:33 AM PDT by IYAS9YAS (Rose, there's a Messerschmitt in the kitchen. Clean it up, will ya?)
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To: the scotsman
Linglestown PA...Quiet town...two lanes...Got federal 'Downtown Beautification'grant... Now has two roundabouts, one at each end of town. PROBLEM: Each is only one lane wide which means that NO semis or even the towns own fire equipment can go through town. Those fortunate enough to live on the West end of town where the firestation is located, will have fire protection. East end, not so much.

No semi traffic...UPS truck nearly turned over on one of the first days they were opened to through traffic.

Good news is that the new faux brick sidewalks and the street lights are pretty. Bad news is that merchants that suffered through the construction now have very limited customer parking.

Income from traffic tickets WAY UP...

Isn't progress great?????

74 posted on 07/01/2011 11:11:04 AM PDT by codder too
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To: WOBBLY BOB
You are right, they are now considered trendy.

Our town just put one in and got an award - like you say it had pedestrian and cycle lanes for sustainability.

Town recognized for new roundabout

The Northern/Hardy Roundabout in Oro Valley was selected as the Outstanding Small Project of the Year by Arizona's chapter of the American Public Works Association.

The five-way roundabout traffic circle at West Hardy Road and North Northern Avenue was completed in the summer of 2010 for about $800,000.

The project will be recognized at an award banquet March 30.

PS - a lot of locals are confused by it and stop before entering...:^)

75 posted on 07/01/2011 11:11:04 AM PDT by az_gila
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To: clintonh8r
There's a town center near where I grew up where four state routes converge on a large circle drive (i.e. 8 entrances/exits into and out of the circle). The town "square" rests in the middle of the circle. Our high school drivers training class made it a special point to instruct us on the protocol used to navigate through Tallmadge Circle and the date we got to try and do it was all but circled on the school calendar.

Sometimes roundabouts are the only solution to what would otherwise be a hopelessly snarled situation and, like you having driven in Britain, I personally prefer them to the stop and go of traffic lights and stop signs. But you are very much correct about the disconnect between dealing with them and the typical American driver's skill level. A large percentage of Americans drive like they are half asleep, a side effect IMHO of the inventions of Prozac, cell phones, and the automatic transmission.

76 posted on 07/01/2011 11:11:56 AM PDT by katana
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To: clintonh8r

The problem I have found in St. Louis area is that the roundabouts are too narrow and usually only one lane, so they don’t work like the ones I encountered in UK.


77 posted on 07/01/2011 11:14:59 AM PDT by HapaxLegamenon
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To: the scotsman

There are only two that I know of within 50 miles of my house, both on the same stretch of road and both about a year old.

I have occasion to drive them about once a month or so. I have to say, it is nice to roll up and proceed through the intersection without waiting a long time for traffic to clear, even when the roads are busy.

I can see where a brain dead driver could make a mess of it, though. I guess in Britain, where they are common and people learn to drive them, it’s different, but I envision Britni pulling up in her 3-Series with the top down, Iphone in hand, chomping her bubble gum, radio going full blast, having no idea how to navigate this bizarre new traffic pattern, and taking out four vehicles in the process.


78 posted on 07/01/2011 11:16:54 AM PDT by FLAMING DEATH (Are you better off than you were $4 trillion ago?)
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To: the scotsman

They are a blooming scourge on our streets; and should be bulldozed out of existence.
And the people who designed them should be executed.

That’s my opinion.


79 posted on 07/01/2011 11:21:49 AM PDT by HereInTheHeartland (Real hope and change comes in January 2013)
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To: clintonh8r

We called them traffic circles in NJ when I was a kid...don’t know if they’re still in use or not but I always thought they were a pain in the butt.


80 posted on 07/01/2011 11:25:19 AM PDT by pgkdan (Time for a Cain Mutiny!)
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