Let's Play Date, Marry, Kill...with Roundabouts.
What are your thoughts as Indiana starts adopting these modern traffic control measures (Europe has been doing them since...forever)?
Most people I talk to either love or hate these intersections. For some reason, I can't find people who are indifferent to them very often.
According to the Carmel's city webpage: "Carmel is internationally known for its roundabout network. Since the late 1990’s Carmel has been building and replacing signalized intersections with roundabouts. Carmel now has more than 150 roundabouts, more than any other city in the United States."
"The number of injury accidents in Carmel have reduced by about 80 percent and the number of accidents overall by about 40 percent."
https://www.carmel.in.gov/government/departments-services/engineering/roundabouts#:~:text=Carmel%20is%20internationally%20known%20for,city%20in%20the%20United%20States.
General PROs / CONs
- Up to a 90 percent reduction in fatalities
- 76 percent reduction in injury crashes
- 30-40 percent reduction in pedestrian crashes
- Reduces the severity of crashes
- Keeps pedestrians safer
- Roundabouts reduce the number of potential accident points within an intersection, 75 percent fewer conflict points than four-way intersections
- No signal equipment to install and repair, savings estimated at an average of $5,000 per year in electricity and maintenance costs
- Service life of a roundabout is 25 years (vs. the 10-year service life of signal equipment)
- Reduces pollution and fuel use
- 30-50 percent increase in traffic capacity, improves traffic flow for intersections that handle a high number of left turns, reduces need for turn lanes
- While roundabouts can handle moderate to heavy traffic volumes more efficiently than traditional intersections, they may experience congestion and delays during periods of extremely high traffic volumes or if not designed properly for the anticipated traffic flow
- Pedestrians and cyclists may face challenges navigating roundabouts, particularly multi-lane roundabouts with higher traffic volumes. Proper design considerations, such as providing safe crossing points, adequate sight lines, and dedicated pedestrian/cyclist facilities, are crucial to ensure their safety.
- Drivers unfamiliar with roundabouts may initially experience confusion or hesitation when navigating them, potentially leading to increased risks or delays until they become accustomed to the traffic patterns.
- Roundabouts generally require a larger footprint and more land area
https://www.in.gov/indot/traffic-engineering/roundabouts/#:~:text=Up%20to%20a%2090%20percent,points%20than%20four%2Dway%20intersections (CONs came from general searching, LLM compilation)
Indianapolis and the surrounding suburbs are implementing them more frequently now, how about your city?
Did you know that traffic circles are different from roundabouts? PA has a little comparison chart that was interesting (If you're into that sort of thing): https://www.penndot.pa.gov/PennDOTWay/pages/Article.aspx?post=24
Don't hate the idea but the few that I've been on around my parts seemed like they were an after thought.
Turning an old 4-way intersection into a tiny roudabout with a giant "feature" in the middle that makes it hard to see traffic coming across the way. Sometimes the circle so tight I feel like a racecar driver going 60 instead of a commuter motorist going 20, either way its about 50/50 whether I feel like I'm cutting off vehicles on my right as I'm trying to turn onto the street just past where somebody else pulled into the roundabout. A few other times, when driving someplace I don't normally drive, the roundabouts are very large and spacious but blend in so well I don't realize I'm coming up on one.
Ha, youi right about people going too fast in then. I see a soccer mom van going under the speed limit until they get into a roundabout, then it's Tokyo drift time. I'm usually unlucky and following them out just to return to painfully under the speed limit again. I'm the opposite. Faster on straight where no pedestrian and slow in circles. Slower in circles means people can merge in better and with more confidence like you mentioned.
I think the land scraping serves two purposes, stop a run through, and it visually blocks traffic since you've only supposed to be concerned about traffic to the immediate left I think.
Which makes sense but between the tight circles and potential for speeding its a bit nerve wracking. I've looked to my left and seen that road clear, go to pull out into the roudabout only to need to slam on my brakes because somebody that I cant see entering from the opposite road was doing, as you said, some Tokyo drifting.
Now it doesn't happen all the time and I'm not saying that roundabouts are a menace or anything. Just trying to get used to them in places where they weren't originally planned for and a whole ass adult lifetime of driving without their existence makes me feel a lot like