https://wsdot.wa.gov/Safety/roundabouts/benefits.htm

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Roundabouts reduced injury crashes by 75 percent at intersections where stop signs or signals were previously used for traffic control, according to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Studies by the IIHS and Federal Highway Administration have shown that roundabouts typically achieve:

A 37 percent reduction in overall collisions
A 75 percent reduction in injury collisions
A 90 percent reduction in fatality collisions
A 40 percent reduction in pedestrian collisions

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So it appears that it's a no brainer for new construction because they have to be cheaper than a four way stop light. Why aren't we building more or these?

Glanced at thread title and it sounded like a discussion about some woke new term for intersectionalism.

What about the diamonds or whatever that was they put in in college staion

Are we comparing apples to apples here? I know that here in Houston, roundabouts tend to be present in more upper class areas...probably seeing a disproportionate amount of educated drivers. Is it the same way in other cities?

I do like roundabouts, but they can get dicey when people don't know the basic traffic rules. However, when there are collisions, they are less likely to be deadly given the physics of the collisions I'd imagine. Far less high speed t-bone type accidents.

I would not be one bit surprised to find out there were an increased number of wrecks and simultaneous decrease in fatalities with roundabouts.

They have these in some spots in AZ I go frequently.

They are kind of annoying but they work well at keeping traffic flowing and reduce chances of ticky tack traffic citations.

Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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https://wsdot.wa.gov/Safety/roundabouts/benefits.htm

Quote:

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Roundabouts reduced injury crashes by 75 percent at intersections where stop signs or signals were previously used for traffic control, according to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Studies by the IIHS and Federal Highway Administration have shown that roundabouts typically achieve:

A 37 percent reduction in overall collisions
A 75 percent reduction in injury collisions
A 90 percent reduction in fatality collisions
A 40 percent reduction in pedestrian collisions

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So it appears that it's a no brainer for new construction because they have to be cheaper than a four way stop light. Why aren't we building more or these?

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A lot of reasons. A lot of it is institutional resistance to change. Cities and municipalities are comfortable with stop control or signalized intersections and are wary of changes. The 2nd biggest is Right-of-Way needs. It is hard to retrofit an old intersection with a roundabout or if needed a much larger traffic circle. And then also on the list is ADA accessibility. Because you always have free flowing traffic exiting the circle, it becomes difficult to provide a stop control for ADA pedestrians that need a longer window to cross a busy leg of the circle.


EDIT: That said, there are probably countless intersections in every City in Texas that could improve safety and congestion with roundabouts. They aren't a be-all end-all solution to all intersections, but should definitely be considered as not only viable but preferred solution to a good deal of problematic intersections.

If you love roundabouts then move to MN. They love roundabouts in the frozen MN tundra.

Years ago there used to be more of them. There was one where the Elite Cafe was in Waco, one in Mexia, one at SH 123 and US 81 in San Marcos. Countless others.

They are more efficient in some circumstances, but they also take up more real estate than conventional intersections. They are making a comeback in many cities. They do require drivers to pay more attention.

Because they take up more space. From a traffic standpoint, they're more efficient though. I prefer them and would like to see more.

as mentioned earlier they take up a lot more room. the less room they take, the slower the traffic has to go thru them.

There's a whole science to traffic flow and intersection types. I haven't studied it, but some TexAgs posters have demonstrated a high familiarity with the topic in the past.

IIRC, a certain traffic density (low) is best served by a 4 way stop. then there's a range where a roundabout performs best. Higher traffic requires at least a signal, exotic configuration (diamond, etc.) or overpass, respectively.

I dont have a problem with roundabouts in low traffic residential neighborhoods.

There is one roundabout in N Ft Worth at 287 frontage/Harmon that is a cluster. Hate that thing

Roundabouts- deployed strategically- are fantastic. They put one in front of our local high school. Previously, the two lane road in front would get stacked with many people trying to turn left into the parking lot before school. On the (non right-of-way) cross street exit at that same intersection- almost nobody every used it in the morning because it was impossible to get across to the parking lot. Now everything flows.

Although I did hear the retrofit cost million+ because they had to pull out power lines, etc and use substantially more land to make it work.

Roundabouts are great when you are familiar with an area. When you are not, they can be a bich (particularly when they aren't the super basic 4 entry/exit type)

The bigger question should be, where the hell is everyone going? I'm in favor of re-engineering society to get us out of cars in the first place.

bmks270 said:

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After spending a week driving all around Ireland which has tons of roundabouts, I am a fan. They require more space than stop signs, but if you have the space, I think roundabouts are superior.

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I read "Iceland" at first and was going to strongly agree. I think every damn intersection in that country was a roundabout, and we loved it!

cr06gis said:

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I dont have a problem with roundabouts in low traffic residential neighborhoods.

There is one roundabout in N Ft Worth at 287 frontage/Harmon that is a cluster. Hate that thing

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The world's stupidest and poorly planned roundabout is in Bryan Texas at Esther Blvd. / Bennett St.

Way too small for a roundabout.

https://roundabout.kittelson.com/Roundabouts/Details/7887

ABATTBQ11 said:

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The problem in that picture? Busses. **** busses.

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No. The problem is a Roundabout is not effective with more then two lanes of traffic.

There are far too many stop signs in this country. We should use yield signs in many locations instead of stop signs.

Roundabouts are fantastic when two-lane roads cross. These can work when 4 lane roads cross as well, but it does require more educated drivers derive the efficiency possible with the setup.

I have spent a lot of time driving in Sweden.

I love the roundabout but I love even more that many of their intersections only have a yield and not a Stop Sign. You don't have to come to a complete stop, you just slow and check for oncoming traffic and continue on if clear. Very common there and makes driving much more enjoyable.

They're all over in Australia up and down the East coast (never been to West coast of Australia). They work great because people know how to use them.

Put them in around here and it'll be a clusterf*** because the idiots won't know how to use them.

AJ02 said:

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They're all over in Australia up and down the East coast (never been to West coast of Australia). They work great because people know how to use them.

Put them in around here and it'll be a clusterf*** because the idiots won't know how to use them.

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4 way stops have been around forever and people still don't know how to handle them either.

Roundabouts are better, not magical or hard, and keep traffic flowing versus stupid stop signs and lights where most aren't even really needed.

ABATTBQ11 said:

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The problem in that picture? Busses. **** busses.

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Take a second look...the buses are in their lanes....how many cars does it take to turn a circle into a square??

I was agnostic on them until I spent a week in the Azores and every intersection there is a roundabout. I became a big fan after that.

Hit it and quit it...super easy and quick.

There's one on Riverside in N Ft Worth I used to take every day to work when I lived there. Kind of miss them living down in Corpus now.

dallasAG beat me to it.

Wait until you're in the UK hitting those two lane roundabouts on the wrong side of the car going the opposite direction. Everything here is a piece of cake compared to that mind ****.