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Citation needed. As a cyclist I prefer roundabouts: they're faster than lights and don't rob my momentum, and they're safer than uncontrolled intersections/4-wa

Citation needed. As a cyclist I prefer roundabouts: they're faster than lights and don't rob my momentum, and they're safer than uncontrolled intersections/4-way stops because all the cars are coming from the same direction. Caveat: this is for simple, single-lane roundabouts. Multi-lane roundabouts are gnarly for cars and worse for cyclists.

eCa 2y ago
In my experience[1], if there’s no bike path roundabouts are better, in particular for left turns. But on a bike path they are usually not much fun, basically requiring negotiating with drivers 270 degrees apart at the same time. My preferred roundabout is separate bikepath that joins the road just before and is a part of the same surface, usually found in bike friendly places. [1] 60000+ km throughout Europe
- prmoustache 2y ago
  If you are on the bike path it really depends of the configuration and how large they are. Ideally you want te driver to have completed his entry so that he can focus on the bike lane. Best ones are those that have an elevated bike path that is seen as a speedbump for the drivers: they are forced to slow down and look.
tmnvix 2y ago
Apologies. A bit of a blanket statement on my part. There are definitely examples of roundabouts built properly (where cyclists and pedestrians are considered first-class users). Sadly not that common in my experience. Here is an example of the kind of thing I had in mind: https://maps.app.goo.gl/mexZWJ9ZP1yvEJ7k7 https://maps.app.goo.gl/mexZWJ9ZP1yvEJ7k7 As you can see, they are building a pedestrian overbridge on the north side, but consider what you would have to do to traverse in any other place as a pedestrian (or get across anywhere currently). Here's a suggestion from Google (i.e. just pretend you're a car): https://maps.app.goo.gl/AiBoyWk4Z7bFr21z5 https://maps.app.goo.gl/AiBoyWk4Z7bFr21z5 The above is in one of the busiest parts of this city. It's not like there are no people wanting to walk. In fact I found myself in exactly this position here not too long ago. I wanted to get from the mall side to a cafe on the opposite side. I gave up and ate a sad meal in the mall :( Edit: Here's another example (with Google's hilariously impractical suggestion): https://maps.app.goo.gl/pati5dBBTnSgxZ1m9 https://maps.app.goo.gl/pati5dBBTnSgxZ1m9

eCa 2y ago

In my experience[1], if there’s no bike path roundabouts are better, in particular for left turns. But on a bike path they are usually not much fun, basically requiring negotiating with drivers 270 degrees apart at the same time. My preferred roundabout is separate bikepath that joins the road just before and is a part of the same surface, usually found in bike friendly places. [1] 60000+ km throughout Europe

prmoustache 2y ago
If you are on the bike path it really depends of the configuration and how large they are. Ideally you want te driver to have completed his entry so that he can focus on the bike lane. Best ones are those that have an elevated bike path that is seen as a speedbump for the drivers: they are forced to slow down and look.

tmnvix 2y ago

Apologies. A bit of a blanket statement on my part. There are definitely examples of roundabouts built properly (where cyclists and pedestrians are considered first-class users). Sadly not that common in my experience. Here is an example of the kind of thing I had in mind: https://maps.app.goo.gl/mexZWJ9ZP1yvEJ7k7 https://maps.app.goo.gl/mexZWJ9ZP1yvEJ7k7 As you can see, they are building a pedestrian overbridge on the north side, but consider what you would have to do to traverse in any other place as a pedestrian (or get across anywhere currently). Here's a suggestion from Google (i.e. just pretend you're a car): https://maps.app.goo.gl/AiBoyWk4Z7bFr21z5 https://maps.app.goo.gl/AiBoyWk4Z7bFr21z5 The above is in one of the busiest parts of this city. It's not like there are no people wanting to walk. In fact I found myself in exactly this position here not too long ago. I wanted to get from the mall side to a cafe on the opposite side. I gave up and ate a sad meal in the mall :( Edit: Here's another example (with Google's hilariously impractical suggestion): https://maps.app.goo.gl/pati5dBBTnSgxZ1m9 https://maps.app.goo.gl/pati5dBBTnSgxZ1m9