I don't doubt your statistics on signalized intersections, but I doubt the cost of a roundabout is as low as a mere $3 million I urban areas where not just land but dozens of businesses built on that land will have to be bought out, and hundreds if not thousands of employees lose their jobs.
And, as someone who has worked on multiple road projects building roundabouts, they apparently confuse drivers as first. And no amount of signage seems to help, because there is a percentage of drivers who will drive a round a sign and claim that they never saw it. I see that everyday at work. As someone whose job is literally traffic safety (I am a traffic control supervisor), it's frustrating. But every time a new roundabout goes up, there are multiple collisions from people who are so used to making a left turn that they can't imagine not making a left turn, and do so, going the wrong way down the roundabout, diving into oncoming traffic that is rarely looking around the curve. We need better solutions that traffic signals, and it may be that roundabouts are the least bad option, but I do wish we would stop treating them as a great option
I’m having a hard time understanding someone approaching a roundabout and making a left. Every one I’ve ever driven through (and I lived in Carmel, Indiana for six years so it’s not an insubstantial number) would have required driving over a curb to make a left. I’m sure it happens, but that really is next level driver distraction. There is a brand new roundabout in the community I live in now (Allen, TX) that has drastically improved safety at that intersection simply because it has slowed traffic. I hope to see many more intersections transitioned in coming years.
I'm not sure where you are located, but there are hundreds of major intersections around the Denver metro area that look like that and have retail stores and/or restaurants within 20 ft of the intersection, were the building is set farther back, and that's where the parking is
Those types can be a great option for roundabouts b/c a roundabout would take up less space. Even better, when they're in a series, the whole corridor is narrower. Not only does it reduce crashes, but opens up space for shared-use paths, comfy bus shelters, etc.
I don't doubt your statistics on signalized intersections, but I doubt the cost of a roundabout is as low as a mere $3 million I urban areas where not just land but dozens of businesses built on that land will have to be bought out, and hundreds if not thousands of employees lose their jobs.
And, as someone who has worked on multiple road projects building roundabouts, they apparently confuse drivers as first. And no amount of signage seems to help, because there is a percentage of drivers who will drive a round a sign and claim that they never saw it. I see that everyday at work. As someone whose job is literally traffic safety (I am a traffic control supervisor), it's frustrating. But every time a new roundabout goes up, there are multiple collisions from people who are so used to making a left turn that they can't imagine not making a left turn, and do so, going the wrong way down the roundabout, diving into oncoming traffic that is rarely looking around the curve. We need better solutions that traffic signals, and it may be that roundabouts are the least bad option, but I do wish we would stop treating them as a great option
I’m having a hard time understanding someone approaching a roundabout and making a left. Every one I’ve ever driven through (and I lived in Carmel, Indiana for six years so it’s not an insubstantial number) would have required driving over a curb to make a left. I’m sure it happens, but that really is next level driver distraction. There is a brand new roundabout in the community I live in now (Allen, TX) that has drastically improved safety at that intersection simply because it has slowed traffic. I hope to see many more intersections transitioned in coming years.
This is the type of intersection that's so deadly, not the tight urban spots with buildings up at the corners: https://twitter.com/Boenau/status/1651177714424983552
Roundabouts are funny, because they're dramatically safer than signals AND wildly unpopular before they're built. https://speakeasy.substack.com/p/86-of-americans-now-work-from-home
I'm not sure where you are located, but there are hundreds of major intersections around the Denver metro area that look like that and have retail stores and/or restaurants within 20 ft of the intersection, were the building is set farther back, and that's where the parking is
Those types can be a great option for roundabouts b/c a roundabout would take up less space. Even better, when they're in a series, the whole corridor is narrower. Not only does it reduce crashes, but opens up space for shared-use paths, comfy bus shelters, etc.