Traffic Circles

[d8alterego]

Now I know plenty of people are traffic circle lovers and wish that there were more of them. I am one because I feel they add more character to a street than a 4-way intersection and provide better traffic flow. I also know that, in this poll, I haven't covered all the intersections out there and I bet that many of you could add one based upon your own daily driving routes. If you mark "other," i'd love to know which ones. Plus, if anyone has a picture of an amazingly designed circle, I'd love to see those too.

This is the Columbus Circle in New York (pic links to Wikipedia) which was recently refurbished. I wish I could drive by that someday, although I'd probably get run off the road by the cabbies.

[tamias6]

I voted for Fulton and Division on the simple premise of the 4 county quadrants (NE,SE, SW,NW) converge at that point thus marking the geographic center of the city. I would create a traffic circle large enough in diameter to accommodate an epic monument, such as an obelisk or statue surrounding by some formal landscaping.

[gvstudent]

It is important to note that when making a traffic circle or roundabout or whatever, you have to have enough right of way or space to build one. I would love to put boulevard throughout Grand Rapids but we do not have the space to build one and the costs would be lucrative. Fulton and Division could would the Civil War Monument were to be moved to the center and the building on the SE corner would have to be removed. I'm not sure if the traffic circle would be that effective especiallyduring rush hour.

[NorthEnder]

It is important to note that when making a traffic circle or roundabout or whatever, you have to have enough right of way or space to build one. I would love to put boulevard throughout Grand Rapids but we do not have the space to build one and the costs would be lucrative. Fulton and Division could would the Civil War Monument were to be moved to the center and the building on the SE corner would have to be removed. I'm not sure if the traffic circle would be that effective especiallyduring rush hour.

[Raildudes dad]

Too many times death circles look terrible and tacky. See the new on in coopersville as evidence, and the new one at cornerstone. They look like waste lands.

[highwayguy]

It is important to note that when making a traffic circle or roundabout or whatever, you have to have enough right of way or space to build one. I would love to put boulevard throughout Grand Rapids but we do not have the space to build one and the costs would be lucrative. Fulton and Division could would the Civil War Monument were to be moved to the center and the building on the SE corner would have to be removed. I'm not sure if the traffic circle would be that effective especiallyduring rush hour.

[Allison Slater]

I voted for Monroe/Coldbrook as well. The traffic there seems just right for one, there's plenty of space to build one there, and the traffic patterns seem right for it. There's already a stop sign bypass for the right turn lane from North to West.

[Grandrapidsne]

Not to go off topic but something else that needs to happen at Fulton and Dvision is the lights on both sides don't stay green long enough and thus traffic is always backed up. When coming form school it takes forever to get through that intersection.

[walker]

In my opinion a traffic circle is one of those things that looks good in a rendering but is less than ideal in reality. Boston probably has more traffic circles than anywhere and it has just about the most aggressive and obnoxious drivers of anywhere. Is there a connection?

[zenstyle]

Two "Others:"

Fuller and Lake Drive,

and

Wealthy, Norwood, and Lake Drive.

Oh, let them happen soon!

[Quercus]

28th street and the east beltline....

I guess based on my commute, I'd like to see one at Breton and Hall. Also, Alger/Madison/Mulford could be a nice spot for a roundabout.

[tamias6]

28th street and the east beltline....

I guess based on my commute, I'd like to see one at Breton and Hall. Also, Alger/Madison/Mulford could be a nice spot for a roundabout.

[Allison Slater]

I think I remember hearing somewhere that Traffic Circles are best with moderate traffic intersections, and lose efficiency with high-traffic intersections. Thus, I'm not sure Fulton/Division, or especially 28th Street and EBL would be the best idea. Realistically, the more lanes in a circle, the more merging and lane crossing there will be, which can drastically increase the potential for accidents.

[Quercus]

I'm not sure Fulton/Division, or especially 28th Street and EBL would be the best idea. Realistically, the more lanes in a circle, the more merging and lane crossing there will be, which can drastically increase the potential for accidents.

[Libertarian]

I thought the "wacko" smiley would clue people in to my sarcasm about 28th and the beltline. Obviously, putting a traffic circle in at a busy location like that would be asking for trouble!

I did a bike tour in Australia where there are traffic circles/roundabouts at almost all intersections. They all have 1 lane feeding in from each direction, which simplifies it quite a bit.

[Allison Slater]

They HAVE large roundabouts with high traffic elsewhere in the world, but from what I've heard of people living there, they don't like them.

Even WITH lanes, would you want to drive this?

As I've said above, I do believe it's been determined elsewhere that Roundabouts are best with low-medium capacity intersections, and the stop light becomes better with high-traffic intersections.

[tamias6]

The round about in the image is of an antiquated design. More modern round abouts like those just installed on Wealthy St. are better design and can more effectively handle traffic than older larger designs...so I've heard.

They HAVE large roundabouts with high traffic elsewhere in the world, but from what I've heard of people living there, they don't like them.

Even WITH lanes, would you want to drive this?

As I've said above, I do believe it's been determined elsewhere that Roundabouts are best with low-medium capacity intersections, and the stop light becomes better with high-traffic intersections.

[Allison Slater]

..I'm boggled by the fact that people are even trying to cross that.

[highwayguy]

Here is a great example of a traffic circle that DOESN'T work - the traffic circle at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France. (I think this could be the same traffic circle as the photo tslater posted above.)

[Allison Slater]

Oi. I would NEVER drive that. EVER.

[Libertarian]

Here is a great example of a traffic circle that DOESN'T work - the traffic circle at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France.

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[tamias6]

Here is a great example of a traffic circle that DOESN'T work - the traffic circle at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France.

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[Veloise]

What are you talking about? That worked perfectly. Just because 20 cars had to wait 30 seconds for traffic to clear before they could veer off to the right, you assume that it is not working properly? That is why there is enough room for 6 or seven lanes of traffic even though they are not delineated as so. How many cars/motorcycles were able to flow through the view of that camera in a just over a minute? 100, 200, or probably way too many to count. Meanwhile traffic that was not veering off to the right was able to freely flow on to their destination. It didnt even cause a backup for the vast majority of traffic. There is no way a stop light at that intersection could facilitate the volume of traffic that that traffic circle did in the minute or so of video footage that we saw.

[john_denver]

Has anyone driven in the UK?

I rented a car while in the UK for a few months...the first few weeks were a bit crazy.

Driving on the left side of the road but sitting on the right side of the car made the traffic circles in a busy downtown London interesting:)

[GRDadof3]

Has anyone driven in the UK?

I rented a car while in the UK for a few months...the first few weeks were a bit crazy.

Driving on the left side of the road but sitting on the right side of the car made the traffic circles in a busy downtown London interesting:)