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Anecdotally, I also think the way roundabouts get built in the US is better now than a decade or two ago. It used to be that roundabouts (being unfamiliar) were
by o11c 2y ago
Anecdotally, I also think the way roundabouts get built in the US is better now than a decade or two ago. It used to be that roundabouts (being unfamiliar) were just treated as a cookie-cutter object to plunk into the roadspace blindly.
Nowadays I often see the designers making conscious decisions like:
* what radius?
* what angle do we need so it doesn't even make sense to try to turn left?
* hard curb or drivable curb?
* central pit, flat center, or raised center?
* full roundabout, or teardrop-shaped (common on both sides of a highway bridge)? Apparently peanut-shaped is also a possibility though I haven't seen one.
* one-lane, two-lane, or a mixture (potentially including partial three-lane) depending on what part of the circle (common when there's a "major" road meeting a minor one)?
This is all of course ignoring the fact that drivers are also more aware of how to use them nowadays.
- DidYaWipe 2y agoAmericans still can't understand the passing lane. I'm skeptical that they're going to make effective use of roundabouts (although I do believe in their merits).
- numbsafari 2y agoThe data cited in the article is based on usage by American drivers. So you can drop your skepticism, they already work. Anecdotally, they’re converting a number of intersections here in rural, Northern MN to roundabouts and they are _very_ effective at reducing fatalities and injuries.
- DidYaWipe 2y agoI guess that depends on your definition of "work." Do they reduce delays? I believe (and have seen) that they can. But I've also seen traffic circles implemented with stop signs in the U.S., a failure. But hey, I'm down for more to be built in the USA and let's give it a shot.
- grcjufvv 2y agoThis is the reason on that traffic related infrastructure is so insane in the US: here we have evidence that roundabouts save lives, but the only thing the American can wonder is how fast they can get through it (to work no doubt).
- DidYaWipe 2y agoHow do you know that's the ONLY thing? Such a dumb fallacy. You know what else saves lives? Outlawing the use of cars entirely. Why aren't you arguing for that?
- NegativeLatency 2y agoSingle lane yield controlled roundabouts work pretty well, much better than an uncontrolled intersection in suburbia or out in the country
- hinkley 2y agoI fully believe that roundabouts work because they look dangerous and they force people to pay attention. There are other traffic management techniques that are overt about this inequality; you can design highways so it looks like you'll run into things you couldn't possibly hit and thus you slow down. If left to voting instead of public policy, we will pick "feels safe but isn't" over "doesn't feel safe but is" which is why someone has to put their big boy pants on and build them anyway.
- throw0101d 2y ago> Nowadays I often see the designers making conscious decisions like: There are design standards for them… now(?). There may not have been in the past, or they were not as good given the lack of experience. See also perhaps "International comparison of roundabout design guidelines": * https://trl.co.uk/uploads/trl/documents/PPR206_secure.PDF https://trl.co.uk/uploads/trl/documents/PPR206_secure.PDF