Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Roundabouts: danger or menace?

A Dutch-style "turbo roundabout"

Ann Arbor might be getting a new roundabout. There is a proposal to replace the traditional intersection at State and Ellsworth with a newfangled roundabout. Some commentors on the Com are understandably upset:

Why wont they listen to the roundabout opponents? Not only are roundabouts more efficient than intersections, they greatly reduce both the severity and frequency of accidents and injury. As some of you may recall Damn Arbor's senior traffic correspondent, the esteemed G$, uncovered this disturbing truth about roundabouts a few months ago.

Turbo-roundabout illustration by Juerd

6 comments:

  1. I use the roundabout on Geddes and Earhart all the time, including what passes for rush hour around here and it is terrific. Of course, I first encoutered Washington D.C. roundabouts circa age 19 so I have some experience. Also, I'm made of sterner stuff than the dotcom commenters, who are all Chicken Littles that see the sky falling all the time.

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  2. The roundabout at Nixon & Huron Parkway has worked out really well, once people got used to it. Accidents were fairly common before it was installed, I don't think there has been one since. The long backups that happened during the rush are mostly gone too.

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  3. The twin roundabouts at Maple & M-14 are great! Keep everything moving nicely.

    There's a monster roundabout configuration up in Brighton by the Costco there, and if the Livingston county folk can navigate that thing, I'm sure that with some hand-holding and lifelong learning classes, the Com-commenters can figure out a simple one here.

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  4. Oh, the comments section of the Com, bastion of reason.

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  5. I HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE roundabouts with a PASSIONATE vigor. I wish to abolish them from the human experience. Why? They are stupid. They are dangerous (I narrowly miss brushes with other vehicles EVERY time I use one, unless it's in the middle of the night). They are unnecessary. Oh, did I mention that they're stupid? They're stupid because they barely work and I find myself sitting at them for absorbitant amounts of time trying to jump in like a first time double-dutcher. All roundabouts MUST DIE!

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