Roundabouts in Colorado

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by busmom

With regard to lane usage in a roundabout in CO:

Before every roundabout, there is a cautionary yellow sign telling drivers that there is a roundabout ahead, and there may be a cautionary suggested speed in the center of that sign. If it's a two-lane roundabout, there will also be a black-on-white sign telling you how each lane is to be used. There may also be a black-on-white speed limit sign. There are sometimes broken lines in a two-lane roundabout that might allow you to change lanes inside the roundabout, but the best policy is to be preapared: look for the black-on-white sign _before_ you get to the roundabout.

Remember that the yellow signs are cautionary. The black-on-white signs are the law.

Busmom

Hey there school bus lady, thanks for the info and WELCOME to City-Data!

[katie_c_s]

My first encounter with roundabouts was in New Zealand- they are EVERYWHERE! And you are on the other side of the road, in the other side of the car, and going clockwise instead of counterclockwise! I'll admit that I probably drove around the first one at 3 or 4 times, but by the end of 4 months, I was a master and a fan! I think they help with traffic because you can get through them faster than a four-way stop sign, and if you're not sure where to go, you can just go around till you find the right turn! All in all, I do think roundabouts are better than 4-ways, when people learn how to use them. The one in Canon is about the only one I've seen in the states, but then they have those stupid frontage streets, which are completely annoying and useless...

[mpsgirl]

I used to hate roundabouts (in part, because I was never taught how to use one properly and eventually had to figure it out on my own) but after living in London for 6 months they've started to grow on me. The one place I felt they were absolutely useless though was in high traffic areas...like Trafalgar Square in central London for example. I sat in a taxi one day at that roundabout for nearly 20 min when I could have probably gotten out and walked to my destination quicker at that point. They seem to work very well in areas with moderate traffic or limited high traffic times, but the places where traffic was constantly heavy, they just seemed to cause more problems.

I just wished more people here would learn how to use them like they're meant to be. There is a roundabout in Colorado Springs on Powers...beside the Best Buy store and I can't tell you how many times we've nearly been hit by someone that has no clue what they're doing in the thing. And some of the places I've seen them pop up around the US, it honestly seems like it was more for aesthetics and the actual benefit to traffic from it was an afterthought.

[bostontopueblo]

Rotaries are usually only good for one lane traffic intersections. When you start adding more lanes you run into problems. Also putting them on highways like Massachusetts does causes enormous traffic jams.

[mrseknoid]

In the panhandle of Texas, they are relatively common.

since that was my vacation spot, I have always known how to navigate one. I can say that I was very surprised to see them start to pop up in suburbia here.....