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Imagine coming from mainland europe and having to drive on the other side of the road (thus also taking roundabouts the other way round), and then navigating th

Imagine coming from mainland europe and having to drive on the other side of the road (thus also taking roundabouts the other way round), and then navigating this baby...

laumars 7y ago
The beauty of these kind of junctions is you can drive clockwise or anti-clockwise. Essentially it's not a roundabout but rather one junction comprised of lots of roundabouts. The Colchester equivalent better demonstrates this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Colchester) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Colchester) Personal anecdote: I had to drive around one of these junctions during my driving test
- twic 7y ago
  The article explains why the Colchester one is particularly cursed: it's built on a native burial ground!
- twic 7y ago
  In other Colchester roundabout news, the one at North Station is fun - it's a normal roundabout, but with a road cutting right through the middle of it too: https://www.youhaventlived.com/qblog/2005/QBlog160705A.html https://www.youhaventlived.com/qblog/2005/QBlog160705A.html There are lights to make sure nobody crashes - effectively switching it between being a roundabout and being a through road - but it's still pretty weird.
  - laumars 7y ago
    I worked in Colchester around the time that was being built. It's much nicer now than what was there before (in my opinion). The only annoying thing about that junction is it can sometimes take a long time to traverse it because of all the lights. The problem with Colchester is that it's plagued with heavy traffic and bad drivers.
  - JdeBP 7y ago
    Nuneaton has one such, at the junction of the A444 and A4254. Nottingham also has one, on the junction of the A52 and B6003.
Sean1708 7y ago
I strongly believe that the biggest reason people struggle with the Magic Roundabout is because it's called a roundabout, when it's actually just a collection of 5 roundabouts. If you tackle it one roundabout at a time it's actually not that bad at all, it could be much much better, but it's not bad.
- VBprogrammer 7y ago
  I prefer magic roundabouts to the strange concoction which I've only ever seen in the Staines / Heathrow area; A roundabout with one road continuing straight through the roundabout. In order to run right you need to be left most lane approaching it. Turning right from the side road, it's ambiguous whether you are supposed to turn right onto the section of the main road going straight through or continue all the way around.
- gerikson 7y ago
  So it's a recursive roundabout?
- twic 7y ago
  Exactly, it's just a very small gyratory system.
euroderf 7y ago
I worked a few months in Swindon (before mapping apps) and out-of-towners on business visits always got directions that went thru the Magic Roundabout. Not to worry, tho: they got hair-raising stories to tell.
bloopernova 7y ago
Quick story time! I moved from the UK to the US in 2001. I then learned to drive in the US (Had no need to in the UK). Sometimes I dream of the UK, my dreaming brain realizes I'm on the "wrong" side of the road. So it tries to switch me over, but that means traveling to the US, so I then have to get on a plane to... drive on the right side of the road. I do it less now that I'm aware of what's going on, but it was very disconcerting to wake up from! Actually driving in the UK (while awake!) is much easier, as you're just kind of following the flow of traffic.
- tomatocracy 7y ago
  Having the controls and seating position reversed also helps a lot in driving on the other side of the road compared to what you're 'used to' in my experience. In particular I've found that driving on the continent in a UK car is a lot harder than driving on the continent in a local hire car, beyond the lower visibility you get when merging etc.
toyg 7y ago
By the time you reach Swindon, you've likely trained yourself well enough that it stopped being a problem. It's much more dramatic near Dover: traffic is channelled from the port straight into a bunch of roundabouts. My dad was metaphorically scarred for life after disembarking a ferry with his Italian campervan in 1986.

Imagine coming from mainland europe and having to drive on the other side of the road (thus also taking roundabouts the other way round), and then navigating this baby...

laumars 7y ago

The beauty of these kind of junctions is you can drive clockwise or anti-clockwise. Essentially it's not a roundabout but rather one junction comprised of lots of roundabouts. The Colchester equivalent better demonstrates this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Colchester) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Colchester) Personal anecdote: I had to drive around one of these junctions during my driving test

twic 7y ago
The article explains why the Colchester one is particularly cursed: it's built on a native burial ground!
twic 7y ago
In other Colchester roundabout news, the one at North Station is fun - it's a normal roundabout, but with a road cutting right through the middle of it too: https://www.youhaventlived.com/qblog/2005/QBlog160705A.html https://www.youhaventlived.com/qblog/2005/QBlog160705A.html There are lights to make sure nobody crashes - effectively switching it between being a roundabout and being a through road - but it's still pretty weird.
- laumars 7y ago
  I worked in Colchester around the time that was being built. It's much nicer now than what was there before (in my opinion). The only annoying thing about that junction is it can sometimes take a long time to traverse it because of all the lights. The problem with Colchester is that it's plagued with heavy traffic and bad drivers.
- JdeBP 7y ago
  Nuneaton has one such, at the junction of the A444 and A4254. Nottingham also has one, on the junction of the A52 and B6003.

Sean1708 7y ago

I strongly believe that the biggest reason people struggle with the Magic Roundabout is because it's called a roundabout, when it's actually just a collection of 5 roundabouts. If you tackle it one roundabout at a time it's actually not that bad at all, it could be much much better, but it's not bad.

VBprogrammer 7y ago
I prefer magic roundabouts to the strange concoction which I've only ever seen in the Staines / Heathrow area; A roundabout with one road continuing straight through the roundabout. In order to run right you need to be left most lane approaching it. Turning right from the side road, it's ambiguous whether you are supposed to turn right onto the section of the main road going straight through or continue all the way around.
gerikson 7y ago
So it's a recursive roundabout?
twic 7y ago
Exactly, it's just a very small gyratory system.

euroderf 7y ago

I worked a few months in Swindon (before mapping apps) and out-of-towners on business visits always got directions that went thru the Magic Roundabout. Not to worry, tho: they got hair-raising stories to tell.

bloopernova 7y ago

Quick story time! I moved from the UK to the US in 2001. I then learned to drive in the US (Had no need to in the UK). Sometimes I dream of the UK, my dreaming brain realizes I'm on the "wrong" side of the road. So it tries to switch me over, but that means traveling to the US, so I then have to get on a plane to... drive on the right side of the road. I do it less now that I'm aware of what's going on, but it was very disconcerting to wake up from! Actually driving in the UK (while awake!) is much easier, as you're just kind of following the flow of traffic.

tomatocracy 7y ago
Having the controls and seating position reversed also helps a lot in driving on the other side of the road compared to what you're 'used to' in my experience. In particular I've found that driving on the continent in a UK car is a lot harder than driving on the continent in a local hire car, beyond the lower visibility you get when merging etc.

toyg 7y ago

By the time you reach Swindon, you've likely trained yourself well enough that it stopped being a problem. It's much more dramatic near Dover: traffic is channelled from the port straight into a bunch of roundabouts. My dad was metaphorically scarred for life after disembarking a ferry with his Italian campervan in 1986.