Seen in a wire service story:
Following a national trend, state transportation planners are actively turning right-angle intersections into roundabouts, derided by many but proven in a national study to be safer than some intersections with stop signs or traffic signals.
Traffic circles have long been part of New York roadways, but modern roundabouts are distinctly different. Today’s roundabouts are much smaller than older traffic circles — about 100-200 feet in diameter compared to 400-600 feet — and they’re designed with narrow lanes that force drivers to slow down.
Transportation planners say the newer design — which originated in Europe and found its way to the United States around 1990 — results in improved traffic flow and fewer accidents.
My town, has started to get a little roundabout happy, with one having been placed on my street a little over a year ago, and another currently under construction, both as traffic-calming measures as well as futile attempts to keep trucks from an industrial park out of residential neighborhoods….
For your consideration, a set of pics recently taken at our neighborhood roundabout. (Note the truck tracks through the center and around the edges…)
