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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I lived near that for 2 years. Yes it was a cluster, but a traffic light would have been just as bad. 287, 35 and like 900 commercial stores combined with residential make that area really bad for traffic.

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Why aren't we building more or these?

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Because municipalities cannot write tickets for running a roundabout.

lb3 said:

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The roundabouts beat the hell out of whatever this is called:

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1431 and I-35 in Round Rock.

The problem in the US is people are just not familiar with them and the "courtesies" and rules involved.

The problem in the UK is Americans visiting them. It may be different now, but when I used to go regularly 12-15 years ago most all rentals were manual. My biggest challenge was maneuvering the roundabout, reading the signs, and the most difficult was remembering to shift with your left hand.

Half the time when I went to shift I simply rolled the window down instead. So more more trip through the roundabout.

dallasiteinsa02 said:

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They work really well in residential settings. My only complaint is when I get to the roundabout first and a person is going straight they will just fly through acting like they have the right of way.

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I think in America we need signs at the roundabouts that say, "You yield to anyone coming from your left".

But then again, no one reads the signs that say "Left Lane is for Passing Only" or "Slower Traffic Keep Right", so what's the point.

My brother has his own way to go around a roundabout late at night. There is a roundabout on the north side of Borger, Texas. When he'd be driving through late at night, he'd often make two or three laps of the roundabout at about 20 mph and then take the exit at about that speed. Sure enough, he'd usually have a police escort quickly who would follow him to the next town.

As for me, I'd rather go through a roundabout than wait at a traffic light.

You have to pay attention to what you and other drivers are doing to merge in an out of traffic and exit the roundabout. You can't be eating, drinking, texting, watching social media, etc which means most Americans won't be able to adapt.

That and they have a European colonialism vibe to them and are thus probably racist.

Roundabouts are great for residential areas. I'd take them any day to the four-way stop or dreaded "special interest" stoplight.

Terrific thread with many, many great observations, comments, etc. I first became aware of roundabouts when I lived in the UK in the late 50's. My AF dad was stationed there. I was in the 5th-6th grade, but I thought they were pretty neat.

Last Nov my wife and I moved to St Clair County, IL just across the river from St Louis (Belleville/Fairview Heights/Shiloh/O'Fallon) to be close to our daughter and her family. Just within the past year and a half a lot of 4 way stops were converted to roundabouts in O'Fallon. Most were In well travelled, but not densely populated areas (fairly new subdivisions separated by farm fields) Our daughter said daily traffic was severely impacted by the construction because there weren't nearby roads that could be used as alternate routes.

The house we bought has 6 roundabouts within 10 minutes of us. One is in the middle of our subdivision, one at the entrance to our subdivision, one east, one west, and two south. The two in our subdivision are unavoidable, as well as the ones east and west. The two south of us could be avoided, but are actually very convenient for getting to downtown O'Fallon.

I love them and what i have observed in 4 months has been mentioned on this thread. People who are not familiar with them are confused, some always STOP at the entrance, even if no one is in the circle, some just barrel through without slowing down, even if someone has entered the circle before them, and using TURN SIGNALS to signal where you are exiting the loop are VERY IMPORTANT.

Using turn signals in a roundabout is actually a traffic regulation in IL and a driver can be given a ticket for not signaling if a cop sees it. If even MOST drivers would use turn signals in a roundabout it would REALLY speed things up, but sadly, most drivers in St Clair County, IL do NOT use them. But other than that, I find them quite beneficial to traffic flow, at least in less densely populated areas where there is room to install them.

Edit: HumpitPuryear made an excellent post that I totally agree with:

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You have to pay attention to what you and other drivers are doing to merge in an out of traffic and exit the roundabout.

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Paying attention to what other drivers are doing is really the key to the whole business. I quickly learned that when we first moved here. I had to greatly notch up my "attention level".

Hey...so.. um said:

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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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I lived near that for 2 years. Yes it was a cluster, but a traffic light would have been just as bad. 287, 35 and like 900 commercial stores combined with residential make that area really bad for traffic.

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And I imagine it was bad around peak traffic times.

I like roundabouts quite a bit. For anyone with half a brain, they are very easy to navigate. They keep traffic moving nicely.

No one remembers the traffic circle that used to exist at University and College?

BigJim49 AustinNowDallas said:

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C@LAg said:

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roundabouts are for little soyboys.

intersections are for real men.

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Try the Paris one at the Arc de Triumph (sp) ! 8-10 lanes - Try to get from lane 1-4 to the outside!

Life in hand ! P-- in pants .

Rule of thumb - just signal and GO!

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Inside lanes have the right of way. Somewhat counter intuitive to American drivers but the really big circles couldn't work any other way.

Biz Ag said:

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"There's no way you can clear it"

"Hold my beer and watch this!"

AJ02 said:

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They're all over 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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Ever seen Australians at a 4-way stop when the traffic lights stop working?
It's hilarious because nobody knows what to do.

This is the "Magic Circle" in Swindon, UK. Five outer circles and one inner circle. I was once a passenger in a car going through it, and even not driving I still almost shipped my pants.

C@LAg said:

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roundabouts are for little soyboys.

intersections are for real men.

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Your one of those types that in the 1980's thought that buying coffee beans and grinding them yourself was a liberal pansy pursuit

I don't like them. They may be better overall though. I just don't live in a high fallutin' city where these are prevalent, so when I encounter one I tend to be looking left and right constantly distracted because I don't always know when / where to get out. Kind of like getting outside of the beltway in DC.

They need to call that a traffic pinwheel.

The first time I encountered one when I wasn't expecting it was a little nervewracking, but I'm OK with them. Several in Sedona and Chattanooga that are fairly low traffic and easy to handle.

Wasn't a big fan of the one in Waco.

doubledog said:

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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

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Thanks for sharing that link. I had no idea there were so many in Frisco, but the one that irritates me is https://roundabout.kittelson.com/Roundabouts/Details/8487

It wasn't a new intersection. It was a perfectly good (and not that old) 4-way stop on a city road that isn't that busy compared to other nearby roads. I'm ok with using roundabouts on new roads, but I'm baffled that someone woke up one day and decided it was a good idea to spend good money ($1 million? More?) to put one there.

lb3 said:

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The roundabouts beat the hell out of whatever this is called:

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Cities: Skylines

lb3 said:

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The roundabouts beat the hell out of whatever this is called:

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Looks like Frogger

Was it going to transition from a four way stop to using lights?

Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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Was it going to transition from a four way stop to using lights?

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Not positive, but yeah, I think it was a four way stop. So a roundabout is cheaper?

Pookers said:

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I was promised a flying Delorean and hoverboards by this point.

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Roads? Where we're going we won't need roads.

Ok, so now what about the Michigan Left Turn. The heck is that all about?

UTExan said:

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All the merge lanes end with a concrete wall. What could possibly go wrong?

Put in an overpass... America f*** yah. Too many stupid people for roundabouts.

After dealing with Houston and San Antonio drivers and their complete lack of understanding in how a simple zipper merge works, it's a wonder these idiots can manage any sort of traffic control device at all.

Man, screw roundabouts. The only car accident I was involved in that was my fault was due to a roundabout.

UTExan said:

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How is this any different than cloverleaf intersections we have now?

Roundabouts are superior in most cases, but you have to have drivers that are either intelligent enough to use them, or aren't so stubborn they refuse to learn how

roundabouts ok for lower traffic scenarios. Flyovers for higher traffic scenarios.