Quote:
Originally Posted by ken0042
What they tried to do was make it so there were two places to do so (the two busiest parts of the circle); and instead of teaching people how to do it safely they tried to force anybody who was using the inside lanes correctly onto the outside.
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That's a bit of an exaggeration. You think they haven't tried telling people all these years how it works? Hell, I barely use the thing and I've seen plenty of reminders and material on it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ken0042
That was my biggest issue- instead of taking the few bad drivers and trying to educate them through enforcement of traffic laws, they attempted to change the rules to suit the lowest common denominator.
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They always design for the bottom 65% of drivers, so you're really surprised by this?
This new paint job is how new roundabouts all over North America are being designed now. If they actually altered the curb lines and did this in the spring when you could see the paint lines better, it would have been fine with everyone. There are even some roundabouts in Calgary, like the McCall Way / Barlow Trail roundabout, which are 2 lanes for only certain parts.
It still accomplishes the main goal of a roundabout - to remove traffic lights and keep traffic flowing instead of having stop and go from the lights. It has the added benefit of taking advantage of knowing which legs have lower traffic volume and adjusting accordingly, significantly increasing the safety of the roundabout for those unfamiliar with it (and let's face it, as soon as there is more than one lane, you're going to get people making mistakes more often).
If you can't get drivers to navigate normal roads properly, then you're going to have to make provisions for special situations. It's why there are no diverging diamonds in Canada yet, as well.