With the County Engineers office doing some meetings on the proposed Dorr Street Interchange with I 475 US 23 (with roundabouts) and its future link to the University of Toledo this week I thought I would share this report on roundabout safety that the DOT in Minnesota just released. I follow a blogger traffic in Minnesota so that is how I got a link to it.
http://www.dot.state.mn.us/trafficeng/sa...tstudy.pdf
Those things more political than anything. Like any flow, it's about the setting and the learning curve. Some setting can never be overcome by learning curve (Central overpass of 23). They're too unique and there's no time to read the manual for newbys.
Roundabouts, the Cherry street thank goodness doesn't carry much traffic or it'd be a backed up zoo. Even now, people can't figure out how to merge onto it. Out on Dorr? People coming off an expressway that carries a significant number of visitors should see something recognizable or you cost injury and lives, regardless it's statistically more efficient. If it's far enough away from the off-ramp traffic, shouldn't be a predicatable problem if space and visibility exists.
With a single merge, eyes need only and are trained to go only, one direction. Towards the off-exit. With roundabouts, they go to the off exit ahead and instinctively to the entrance previous. That can be a challenge to all but the theoretical driver and the traffic engineer with head up azz. If done too tightly, they can be even more messed up than the Michigan exchanges, traffic heading to the on-ramp having to dance with traffic heading off, all trying to speed up.
I lol'ed when the "spokesperson" mentioned if approved and money raised the interchange could be done in time for ... some golfing (or was it tennis?) event in 2020. Like that's a determiner. Head WAY up azz.
Don't move to Italy... tons of roundabouts. Makes for a nice game of chicken.
Roundabouts are great. I'd be fine if they put them everywhere, as long as people figure out how to use them. No need to stop when no one is coming.
Agree, Europe is way ahead of us in that regard. Plus, they have cars that shut themselves off when you are stopped, and then restart when you step on the gas pedal.
roundabouts are scary the first few times you use them but after that you realize for areas of moderate traffic they are faster, safer, and save gas. of course, to properly use them americans will have to learn as a society to do something different that involves working together and not thinking of yourself as the most important car on the road.
(12-13-2017 06:15 PM)RangerRocket Wrote: [ -> ]Agree, Europe is way ahead of us in that regard. Plus, they have cars that shut themselves off when you are stopped, and then restart when you step on the gas pedal.
We got those now, right? Ford had that on some models, I thought. Mine shuts itself off but refuses to restart. Well, more like it stalls a lot.
I think most people are just unsure about when is the best time to start texting.
They took out a lot of traffic circles in MA over the last couple decades. In my opinion, a major mistake. Made Downtown Salem, MA a perpetual traffic jam. Once people know how to merge to the traffic in the circle, they function MUCH better than a standard signaled intersection.
roundabouts and other newer road designs are a challenge in regards to driver understanding and use whenever and wherever they are first installed, if drivers in other States and Countries learned to use them and adapt their driving skills too them (in case cases decades ago) they certainly drivers in Ohio and Toledo can - hmmmm perhaps that is asking too much for drivers who can currently not even today handle the basics like red lights, not tailgating, proper lane changes, and driving with a few inches of snow on the road.....
I learned how to drive through roundabouts the hard way - in England, with a standard shift vehicle and the driver's side on the right and traffic going in the opposite directions to what you are used to. Try driving a standard shift using your left hand to shift while on the opposite side of the car and then entering a roundabout for the first time. What ended up happening is I had to make 2 laps around it so I could get out of it correctly. The worst part is making a right hand turn and forgetting that you have to cross a lane with traffic coming at you. Made it all the way to the hotel and then nearly got killed pulling into the "car park".
The real issue with roundabouts in the US is that we lack courtesy for other drivers. They work a lot better when cars let other cars merge in and out in the roundabout. I've seen cars backed up in a roundabout because of traffic jams at one of the exits and then the cars that were in the roundabout refusing to let other cars enter to go to another exit point of the roundabout.