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I'm all in favor of roundabouts. The maintenance cost (and resulting cost to taxpayers) is WAY less than for traffic lights and of course they accomplish the same thing- regulating intersection traffic. I don't buy arguments that say people aren't used to them or tend to be focused on other things so they are a bad idea. People need to be safe and adjust to driving conditions and to road conditions. I've driven through the one in Sarasota at St. Armands Circle and through ones in other cities. And when you combine the lower maintenance costs and the enhanced landscape beauty they provide to a community over traffic lights, they are easily the preferable option. The ones I've driven through are pedestrian friendly as well. Roundabouts are an AWESOME idea and amenity.
exactly, few weeks ago while I was driving, an SUV was going the wrong direction in a rotary here in boston. They were out of towners clearly (plates). Scary as hell.
Yeah, I'm from Iowa and they started putting them up in newer developments around the state maybe 15 years ago.
They've worked out great, and save you the time of sitting at a stop-light or having to completly stop at a sign. They're good for the right amount of traffic.
I think now there are around 25 of them, mostly in the Iowa City and Des Moines areas. I can think of 3 right near my parents house that went up in the past few years. It's kept traffic moving much easier.
here's a stock image from the Iowa DOT.
My grandparents condo is in the upper left corner. They literally sit in their bedroom and watch people drive through it all day, haha. I guess that's what you do when you're 92 and your body doesn't work the way it use to.
In suburban Cobb County just NW of Atlanta, they are experimenting with them. There is one small roundabout (1 lane) that works very well, and a second 1 lane roundabout is in the planning stages. I think in a couple of other suburban areas the same sized smaller ones are in planning stages as well.
In many of the suburbs here, you still have lots of 2 lane roads. They never suspected that the metro Atlanta of 1.5 million people in the late 1970s would eventually turn into a metro area of 5.2 million in 2009. Due to very poor predictions and poor planning, many of those same 2 lane roads of yesteryear are still in use today, only with 20X the traffic on them they saw decades ago. Some of the intersections on these routes can back up a lot. The one area where the existing roundabout is in place has seen a big decrease in the congestion at that one intersection.
That being said, if they did a multi-lane roundabout within Atlanta, I'm not sure it would fly well. We're famous for having a high percentage of drivers who originate from all over the world, and who drive with cell/texting in hand, etc. A 4-6 lane roundabout here would most likely just lead to chaos.
More info...
Atlanta Metro News*| ajc.com (http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/stories/2008/11/23/cobbround.html?cxntlid=inform_sr - broken link)
We have the same problems here, plus the seasonal nature of our tourist traffic compounds the confusion. Currently the road carries approximately 40,000 cars per day, seems that is too much traffic for a roundabout design, with pedestrians and bicyclists also in the equation.
exactly, few weeks ago while I was driving, an SUV was going the wrong direction in a rotary here in boston. They were out of towners clearly (plates). Scary as hell.
You gotta admit, it wouldn't be too surprising if a native Bostonian performed that maneuver. The Boston Driver's Handbook documents and teaches the fascinating habits of Boston drivers. I learned a lot of my best techniques from it!
I'm all in favor of roundabouts. The maintenance cost (and resulting cost to taxpayers) is WAY less than for traffic lights and of course they accomplish the same thing- regulating intersection traffic. I don't buy arguments that say people aren't used to them or tend to be focused on other things so they are a bad idea. People need to be safe and adjust to driving conditions and to road conditions. I've driven through the one in Sarasota at St. Armands Circle and through ones in other cities. And when you combine the lower maintenance costs and the enhanced landscape beauty they provide to a community over traffic lights, they are easily the preferable option. The ones I've driven through are pedestrian friendly as well. Roundabouts are an AWESOME idea and amenity.
It kinda works at Saint Armand's circle but they want one at the intersection of Fruitville Road and U.S.41....U.S. 41 and Gulfstream Avenue going to the Ringling Bridge....I'm just not sure roundabouts will work here? The area is so dense that adding beauty in the middle of the circle is not forseeable in that small of a footprint. IMHO. PS I agree that the park at St. Armand's Circle is beautiful; but just don't know when you're in downtown Sarasota with 40,000 plus vehicles per day.
Yeah, I'm from Iowa and they started putting them up in newer developments around the state maybe 15 years ago.
They've worked out great, and save you the time of sitting at a stop-light or having to completly stop at a sign. They're good for the right amount of traffic.
I think now there are around 25 of them, mostly in the Iowa City and Des Moines areas. I can think of 3 right near my parents house that went up in the past few years. It's kept traffic moving much easier.
here's a stock image from the Iowa DOT.
My grandparents condo is in the upper left corner. They literally sit in their bedroom and watch people drive through it all day, haha. I guess that's what you do when you're 92 and your body doesn't work the way it use to.
Looks like a nice area, but could the concept work when scaled up to six lanes of highway and 40,000 vehivles per day?
exactly, few weeks ago while I was driving, an SUV was going the wrong direction in a rotary here in boston. They were out of towners clearly (plates). Scary as hell.
I've seen people at the rotary in Foxboro going the wrong way a few times too. I have also seen people who don't know what they are doing stop at each point where a road intersects the rotary.
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