Friday, September 27, 2013

A ROUNDABOUT IS NOT A TRAFFIC CIRCLE OR ROTARY--HERE'S THE DIFFERENCE



"Roundabout" often gets a bad rap around the Burlington, VT area as it is equated with the failed traffic circle design in nearby downtown Winooski--a traffic circle which roundabouts cure.  Here is the example of a roundabout curing a traffic circle--New York's first roundabout built in 2000 in Kingston.  You could fit two of them inside the Winooski circle,or three of Vermont's two-laner in Brattleboro.  

Check out this Alaska DOT website showing before and after of the Kingston roundie, plus a simple directory covering how the roundabout safely handles walkers and bicyclists approaching from cycle track/bike lanes. roundabout history, U.S. examples 


The Kingston 660 foot (more than two football fields) diameter circle is now
a 220 foot diameter roundabout.  The Winooski circle--really an oval--is about 500 feet by 200 feet.   

(Note Montpelier's first roundabout (1995) is pictured in the section "Roundabout Links" subsection "Roundabouts around the world" as it is the first north of Maryland and east of Las Vegas, the 19th in the U.S).

Still noteworthy, there has yet to be a single walker fatality at the 3,000 or so U.S. roundabouts.

2 comments:

  1. Clearly, there needs to be a cure at the intersection of St. Paul and Main St. in Burlington that traffic signal enhancements could never fix-- and that cure is a single-lane roundabout.

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  2. Also, here's a cool link I found: http://www.wimp.com/testroundabout/

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