Turbo Roundabout?

[MaxPC]

What do you think?

[Neto]

I have never heard of "smart Motorways", or "Refuge Laybys". (from the news video visit with the woman whose husband was killed)

The round-about is more familiar to me, as I've seen them in Indiana and Brazil also uses them to a fair degree. But the one in the photo looks really confusing to me. (Looks like they are "storing" a lot of orange cones on that one....) An animated short film would really help in understanding how it is designed to function.

Incidentally, the Ohio highway department wants to install one right outside Berlin here, but the Holmes County road department is no where near convinced. They are especially concerned about how it would "impact" bike and buggy 'drivers'.

[ohio jones]

I have never heard of "smart Motorways", or "Refuge Laybys". (from the news video visit with the woman whose husband was killed)

The video has nothing to do with a roundabout. I have removed the link.

Try this instead:
https://www.montereyherald.com/2024/01/ ... n-the-u-s/

[barnhart]

I like roundabouts when they are familiar and I know exactly which lane to be in for my exit. If everyone knows where they are going it works quite well. When encountering an unfamiliar one, I have been confused by signage into choosing the wrong exit.

[MaxPC]

I have never heard of "smart Motorways", or "Refuge Laybys". (from the news video visit with the woman whose husband was killed)

The round-about is more familiar to me, as I've seen them in Indiana and Brazil also uses them to a fair degree. But the one in the photo looks really confusing to me. (Looks like they are "storing" a lot of orange cones on that one....) An animated short film would really help in understanding how it is designed to function.

Incidentally, the Ohio highway department wants to install one right outside Berlin here, but the Holmes County road department is no where near convinced. They are especially concerned about how it would "impact" bike and buggy 'drivers'.

If I were to be in a horse-drawn buggy I would not go near one. Even if familiar with it, I would be concerned about drivers who are unfamiliar with it and their ability to navigate without endangering others.

[Ken]

There was a 3-way traffic light on the way to my daughter's HS. Due to a lake on one side and a 2-lane bridge that had to be crossed it ended up being a massive bottleneck every morning and afternoon since all cars going north or south through that section of town had to pass through that one single intersection. There were no alternatives without driving 5-10 mile out of your way.

They replaced it a few years ago with a modern roundabout and like magic nearly all the congestion vanished. Even though the area is growing so population and traffic is increasing. I became a believer in roundabouts after that. They are so much more efficient in moving large volumes of traffic because the intersection remains at full capacity at all times. Whereas with traffic lights most cars are just sitting there at red lights as the lights cycle through even if no one is actually in the lane that has the green light.

[QuietlyListening]

They are especially concerned about how it would "impact" bike and buggy 'drivers'.

We have roundabouts in our area and while I do like them - the image of a buggy going thru one is mind boggling.
Can't imagine.

[Neto]

They are especially concerned about how it would "impact" bike and buggy 'drivers'.

We have roundabouts in our area and while I do like them - the image of a buggy going thru one is mind boggling.
Can't imagine.

I think it could work safely, but I DID use the word "impact" on purpose. I think that there would need to be two or more lanes, and the inner lane would need to yield to the outer (buggy and bicycle) lane at all times, and under all conditions. I suspect, however, that the problem would be with large trucks and semis, who already have seriously reduced visibility. In that sense, I can imagine some horrific accidents. The thing is that there is a LOT of bicycle and buggy traffic through that area, and there isn't any remotely reasonable alternative route. I doubt if this would be accepted, but a 4-way stop is pretty much the only reasonable solution. (It is a US highway and an Ohio state highway that go straight through, intersecting with the end of another Ohio state highway. Then not far from there is the entrance to a VERY busy county road. There is a lot of heavy truck, tractor, and 4-wheel vehicle traffic on all of these routes. [US route 62, which goes from Buffalo, NY all the way to the Texas-Mexico border, Ohio route 39, and the north end of Ohio route 557. Then up a ways is the south end of Holmes County route 201.]

A factor strongly mitigating against it is that there is a serious lack of knowledge of basic traffic law on the part of the Amish, who are sometimes children on bicycles, or children of only 8 years operating pony carts. Then there is also a lot of simple lawlessness on the part of the average vehicle driver, not stopping for stop signs, passing in dangerous situations, etc. (I even see police vehicles routinely breaking basic traffic laws.)

[Ken]

Roundabouts can be designed for the safety of pedestrians and cyclists as well as cars. The Dutch know how to do it:

[Josh]

Smartest thing to me would be to have completely separate bike lanes. They actually do this in Holmes Co. where old railroad beds are now bike/horse/walking lanes. You can walk from Fredericksburg to Holmesville and not see any cars.