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Given the almost universal agreement that people are not handling the roundabout properly, is it not now abundantly clear that this is a stupid design and a stupid idea? Especially to put three or four of them in such close proximity? Or are Raleigh people here to serve the roads and glorify the whims of some idiot planner who commutes to work on a skateboard while wearing a backward-turned baseball hat?
Civil engineers are here to serve peoples needs, not to dictate their behavior. Bad human factors are the hallmark of shoddy engineering.
The same boy-genius (girl-genius?) mentality is now eyeing five points for a traffic circle. Too bad these people have no knowledge of history, as five points originally had a traffic circle which was later removed due to its inadequate capacity. If you want to see a real show, wait til they get their way at five points, and then observe the melding of in-bound traffic on Glenwood as interrupted by priority in-bound traffic on Whitaker Mill during the morning rush hour. Fortunately, there is a paramedic station nearby, and it's not too far to Rex Hospital.
Roundabouts are great for traffic flow when used properly. You can't really fault civil engineers for people with zero common sense.
I think this goes way beyond common sense. DOT designed a roundabout that is not common in this area and is unfamiliar to drivers. It's simply not intuitive enough for people to figure out while driving, and the accident history seems to prove that.
I was referring more to people stopping in the roundabout to let people out of their car, or driving in reverse in the roundabout instead of circling back around. Don't think there's much civil engineers can do to account for those sorts of people.
I was referring more to people stopping in the roundabout to let people out of their car, or driving in reverse in the roundabout instead of circling back around. Don't think there's much civil engineers can do to account for those sorts of people.
Ahh, you're right there. They should be executed without a trial.
Few people are aware of this, but the entire Hillsborough Street re-do is actually a sophomore-year project for kids in the NCSU school of design.
I heard that the original plan was to convert the Hillsborough St. roundabout into a mini version of the inner/outer beltline, but alas, that plan got nixed.
Eva: I think I was at the roundie with you. Or maybe so many people stop in the middle that we witnessed two different instances. In any case, I often find myself waving people through who have stopped dead in the middle. In their defense, I often slow when I come to a roundie entrance where someone's waiting because so many have pulled right out in front of me. It's no excuse for the dead-stop, but I can see where stopping (and risking a rear-end) would in the moment seem like a better option than potentially t-boning someone who refuses to yield.
The two-lane-to-one-lane won't do a bit of good unless they put up signage. Pictures and words. Maybe a helpful video. "Drivers on the left have right-of-way. Yield to the driver on the left. If no drivers are present, continue through."
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