Because they don’t provide any breaks in traffic, high flow times can make it difficult for people living downstream to get out of their driveway
People with eyesight disabilities can have problems navigating them. Advocacy organizations would like them to use stop signs rather than yield signs, but this reduces the throughput of the roundabout.
Nope. Traffic lights create high traffic areas, by unnecessarily delaying cross traffic.
Near my parents house, there is a 6-way intersection. When I was growing up, it was served by traffic lights, with straight and left-turn lanes in all directions. Traffic was backed up all day long in 3 of the 6 directions, to the point that pretty much everyone waited through at least two turns.
A few years after I left home, they converted it to a two-lane roundabout. Traffic immediately died down. Now, you typically see one to two other vehicles when you pass through the intersection, and you never wait more than a few seconds to get through.
No. The problem wasn’t the amount of traffic. The problem was the delay from the lights. It was enough to build up long queues on three of the six entry roads. It turns out when you don’t unnecessarily impede drivers, they don’t become “traffic”.
A housing allotment (~100 single family homes) was built about a mile down one of the feeder roads. An elementary school was torn down on another road, but a high school and rec center were built on the old site. The number of vehicles passing through that intersection has only increased.
Roundabouts are used in area of moderate to high traffic where multiple roads meet and places where continuous flow is needed. Like motorway junctions. The junction near me is very high traffic, and we use a roundabout with traffic lights too. They can be less effective if the flow of traffic is heavy in one direction but not the other.
Traffic lights are used in busy urban areas where there are a lot of pedestrians or places with uneven traffic distribution. These can cause issues of slowing traffic in quieter times due to lights not really being smart and knowing when people are there.
They’re good in low traffic areas. They’re way better than a 4 way stop, but in high traffic areas traffic lights are better.
Edit: Apparently I was wrong about this.
A few actual problems:
If a driveway directly leads into a high flow road, you have a stroad problem, not a roundabout problem.
Upvoted you because you admitted to being wrong.
Absolutely not. And roundabouts have traffic lights too, these are not mutually exclusive.
Wait you have traffic lights on your roundabouts?
Nope. Traffic lights create high traffic areas, by unnecessarily delaying cross traffic.
Near my parents house, there is a 6-way intersection. When I was growing up, it was served by traffic lights, with straight and left-turn lanes in all directions. Traffic was backed up all day long in 3 of the 6 directions, to the point that pretty much everyone waited through at least two turns.
A few years after I left home, they converted it to a two-lane roundabout. Traffic immediately died down. Now, you typically see one to two other vehicles when you pass through the intersection, and you never wait more than a few seconds to get through.
Well did the expand any other roads near by, or have a large business close down. Sound like drmand for that path died down
No. The problem wasn’t the amount of traffic. The problem was the delay from the lights. It was enough to build up long queues on three of the six entry roads. It turns out when you don’t unnecessarily impede drivers, they don’t become “traffic”.
A housing allotment (~100 single family homes) was built about a mile down one of the feeder roads. An elementary school was torn down on another road, but a high school and rec center were built on the old site. The number of vehicles passing through that intersection has only increased.
Not necessarily.
Roundabouts are used in area of moderate to high traffic where multiple roads meet and places where continuous flow is needed. Like motorway junctions. The junction near me is very high traffic, and we use a roundabout with traffic lights too. They can be less effective if the flow of traffic is heavy in one direction but not the other.
Traffic lights are used in busy urban areas where there are a lot of pedestrians or places with uneven traffic distribution. These can cause issues of slowing traffic in quieter times due to lights not really being smart and knowing when people are there.