Why Don't We Just Use Roundabouts Everywhere?

a little over two years ago I made a video about the diverging diamond interchange in its place in the study and practice of transportation specifically how this oddly structured intersection allows for a smoother and safer flow of traffic in major cities around America and every day for the past two years since posting I wake up each morning and see the exact same comment over and over and over and over again just feels like an expensive ly complicated way to not use a roundabout too bad America is too stupid to implement roundabouts they're way more efficient than stoplights a real fix is roundabouts everywhere just put a roundabout on each side word roundabout today we are going to address the roundabout issue once and for all so that the comments will stop first let me state for the record I know roundabouts are safer than traditional intersections the Federal Highway Administration and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety or as they are known on the streets flaw and is both ran studies that showed roundabouts reduced overall collisions by 37% at intersections where stop signs where signals were previously used for traffic control pedestrian collisions dropped 40% injury crashes dropped 75% and fatality collisions dropped 90% those numbers are great in no way shape or form should they be downplayed roundabouts are safer there's no light for lead foot drivers to try and gun it to beat instead all cars must slow down and yield to traffic so if an accident occurs it's usually a minor collision at low speed plus cars are all moving in one direction so there's no chance you'll get t-boned or hit another car head-on the design offers way fewer chances for deadly collisions cities that reject the roundabout are not doing so out of ignorance over the designs effectiveness no the real issue here stems from money because while it would be nice to say that no cost is too high for governments to protect human life the truth is when comes to the real world there is always a price tag to keeping people safe and in many American cities on many American roads the cost of ushering in the roundabout is simply too much so public roadways in America are generally built and maintained by state government organizations in my home state this is mo dot the Missouri Department of Transportation they have seven regional districts to take care of local roads and services and if you're an American your state likely has something similar mo dots operating budget comes primarily from taxes namely fuel taxes registration and licensing fees and motor vehicle sales taxes this year their budget is about 2.3 billion dollars they've got to figure out a way to spread that money throughout the entire state making decisions about highway location design construction and continued maintenance but it's not just the roadways they also have to figure out airports rail facilities waterways public transit and bicycle and pedestrian traffic as well this requires more than six thousand employees who are responsible for maintaining the seventh largest highway system in the nation that's more than 32,000 miles now for perspective it costs about a hundred and twenty-one thousand dollars to resurface a single lane of a single mile of a major highway so while 2.3 billion dollars seems like an exorbitant amount of money with over 32,000 miles to take care of starts to add up they are just filling potholes they have to take care of plowing and treating roads when snow falls picking up litter mowing building and maintaining bridges the point I'm making is there's a lot of stuff to cover and they have to make hard choices about where and how to spend money so that they don't go over budget because if they do oh boy the ramifications Moe God's mission statement is built on three key pillars safety service and stability safety meaning protecting travelers from potential injury service meaning and the efficient and satisfactory transportation system and stability meaning a solid reliable network that promotes a prosperous economy spending taxpayer money in a way that strikes a balance between these three pillars is no easy task when I see a comment like this which reckons that converting every intersection in America to a roundabout should be quote relatively cheap and quote only take a couple of months I know that that person is either trolling or severely misinformed about the scope of challenges that come from traffic flow because redesigning every intersection in a real life city isn't like a video game where you can simply drag and drop a new option altering even a single Junction is an intensely calculated affair each with its own unique challenges like typography some cities have unique Geographic considerations odd elevation or weather concerns that would make a lighted intersection more advisable as well vehicle density might make a roundabout less effective if a nearby business like a farm or a shipping warehouse means tractor trailers and big rigs will be frequently traveling through creating highly unbalanced traffic flows IIHS believes roundabouts might not be the best choice roundabouts to require more real estate than a traditional intersection if this physical space is unavailable due to land use like commercial ownership conservation or other factors then a roundabout cannot be built if creating the space requires altering the geographic landscape then things like demolition elevation and resurfacing make the cost of installation even higher remember converting a traditional interchange isn't just a matter of widening a couple lanes and putting up some new signs moving to a roundabout means removing the entire existing structure and rebuilding everything from the ground up this costs money but it also takes time and this presents another challenge traffic control because if you closed down a major intersection to improve it you need to provide drivers with a temporary detour and if you don't set up or choose one carefully you'll break your entire towns traffic system set up a detour that's too cumbersome or annoying people will try to find a different route to work if cars begin commuting in other areas that were not meant to support a high volume then one road closure can create a cascading effect on other traffic spots around town and it could result in gridlock for this reason there is an entire science of studying traffic flow using computer simulations to determine the best way to handle trouble spots and the trouble is every city is different population size and type varies wildly depending on the time of day traffic volume fluctuates it is not a simple cut-and-dried formula on top of that there are industrial considerations if a town decides to convert a major intersection the resulting road construction will create economic impacts New York State has done extensive research and documentation on the negative effects road closures have on nearby commercial properties have a detour up for too long and nearby businesses particularly restaurants and gas stations will take a severe hit the reason why is obvious if there's annoying construction in an area people will avoid driving there and as a result less people will shop there and even for a fast food chain losing more than half of your typical customer base for six months to a year can mean the difference between staying open or closing permanently improving a city's infrastructure doesn't just cost taxpayer money if mismanaged it can result in major financial shortfalls from lost revenue and finally though it won't win much sympathy from a lot of you there is the human factor because no matter how safe a design may be on paper if it isn't understood or accepted by the people who are meant to use it there's no point and whether it makes sense or not the truth is most drivers in America are used to and prefer the traditional stop-go intersection yes it has its deficiencies yes roundabouts are safer yes they allow better traffic flow yes most drivers can eventually adapt but in such a delicate and important system transportation this transition if it is to happen should be done slowly and carefully not all at once so having said all of that let's answer the question of the day why the diverging diamond when you put our three factors together safety service and stability the diverging diamond interchange strikes a good healthy balance it offers a safer design than traditional intersections not as much as a roundabout but still a significant improvement and this is key existing intersections can be converted to this design in a fraction of the time and fraction of the price when compared to the total redesign needed for a roundabout make sense look more often than not your local Department of Transportation job is to mitigate the downsides that come with every option available road construction is annoying and slow sometimes filled with what seems like pointless bureaucracy but when you see traffic cones and workers operating intrusively loud machinery around town remember it's a sign that your city is working to improve conditions and to keep you safe when you're on the road if you want to learn more visit your local Department of Transportation and ask for a tour attend a public meeting or hearing when they hold them ask the engineer's questions about how the traffic system operates you'll learn a lot oh and before you go see these these are stop signs they are not suggestions when you see them bring your vehicle to a complete stop before proceeding I've noticed there seems to be some confusion this video is sponsored by Skillshare an online learning community that offers practical classes presented in a way that helps you move your creative journey forward without forcing you to put your day-to-day life on hold with a huge collection of classes on writing creativity productivity and more there's something for almost anybody if like me you fluctuate between being fairly put together and 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Channel: AustinMcConnell

Views: 653,351

Rating: 4.8971257 out of 5

Keywords: austinmcconnell, austin mcconnell, austin mcconnel, austinmcconnel, roundabouts, diverging diamond, roundabout, traffic, road construction, modot, missouri department of transportation, department of transportation, driving, intersections, traffic lights, traffic law

Id: Lsvhg3FjXXY

Length: 11min 33sec (693 seconds)

Published: Mon May 18 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/tideshark]

American here, spent a year in Italy in 2004 and a year in Egypt in 2008 for the military. Mind blown by how much better roundabouts are than traffic lights with how smooth they make traffic move.

So two years ago the city I live it decides to turn a big intersection into a roundabout on a busy state route that always has backed up traffic during rush hour times of day. Thought I’de be happy right? WRONG!

Instead much more people don’t even know how to use it. No one just smoothly flows in how you’re supposed to. Everyone stops, then has to wait for cars to pass before entering when they had the opening right as they were driving in to it. THERE IS NO STOP SIGN! If you live in America and you are stopping at a roundabout before entering, YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG!

That is unless for some crazy reason there is a stop sign at it, I never seen one with any though.

Just a PSA for people who suck at roundabouts.

[u/rmccue]

I think the majority of the points here are valid, but the closure of the intersection during conversion isn't a necessity.

I've lived through a few of those conversions from overpass-with-traffic-lights to roundabout-overpass, and the typical process I've seen for converting is to build the roundabout infrastructure around the existing overpass (sometimes with temporary on/off ramps) so that no closures are necessary. The traffic can then be switched over, and the old overpass then demolished.

(I imagine you could use one span of the roundabout overpass as a traditional overpass during construction, but I haven't seen that happen.)

[u/cait_Cat]

I live somewhere with a ton of roundabouts in the US. The county I live in has replaced almost all stop signs with roundabouts. The first couple years it was rough, but now, for the most part, the majority of people scoot right through and it is faster than a stop sign.

Only downside? Google Maps and Apple Maps will break in to tell you at EVERY intersection to tell you to continue going straight. They don't have an understanding of how to handle them.

[u/expert02]

Roundabouts have specific areas where they are useful. Low-volume traffic single lane road intersections where all connecting roads have similar levels of traffic. At intersections of multi-lane roads, or roads with a very large amount of traffic, stop lights are much better. At intersections of a low-volume road and a high-volume road, stop signs are better.

Roundabouts are between stop signs and stop lights in their usage.

[u/Anti_Miavh]

I found this on my feed this evening :)

[u/UnrequitedReason]

Roundabouts make pedestrian and cyclist crossing very difficult (and potentially more dangerous), making them more appropriate for use outside of urban centres or high density roads.

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[u/MedicPigBabySaver]

Love rotaries. My town desperately needs two. Unfortunately I'm certain we're going to get stuck with traffic lights.