Traffic Circles?

[Skyceman]

Originally Posted by Calgary Flames

They put a few in Richmond Hill... at first I was like WTF is this? But I think they really improved the traffic there. Instead of stop signs bottlenecking the cars people are free to go.

Exactly. That stop sign backed up for a few blocks during rush hour. I hated going that way. Now, I haven't noticed much delays.

[sec304]

Originally Posted by nieuwy-89

And who ever can't drive through a traffic circle should have their license revoked. It's really not that tough.

Traffic Circles = faster, safer, more efficient than a traffic signal (when used at the right intersections.)

I have no problem driving through them at all, but when 9/10 people in front of you stop dead or drive 8km/h with a confused look on their face and you're stuck behind them, you will hate them, so go revoke the damn licenses then "big talk"...

my biggets pet peeve is how Calgary has a small intersection and they feel the need to put 4 traffic lights with all directions having a flasher, wtf is that? it takes me like 12 minutes to drive one block down Country Hills Blvd now

[Bill Bumface]

Traffic circles are great. Their only downside is land usage. Since we are the furthest thing from a dense city I wish they were everywhere. It would definitely suck in the short term, but people would learn.

They do get brutal when they carry more than a medium traffic load though. In Lisbon they have some 6 laners with traffic lights around them to let people in to the circle because they are too busy. These suck. A normal set of lights with dual turn lanes becomes more efficient at this point I think.

I'm not sure if its common, but one thing they do there is leave your left blinker on if you are staying in the circle, right blinker means you are leaving at your next exit. These were all over the secondary highways there and work good instead of people turning left across speeding traffic. Everyone has to slow down, so its much safer.

[Burninator]

They have them all over the Mount Royal area. Nobody that I know is a fan of them. They are used in small intersections where it a previously a two-way or four-way stop or an unmarked intersection. To my understanding the city put them in place to slow traffic. I guess people speeding was a problem.

I have heard of lots of accidents and almost accidents when they where first put into place. Tough transition for people.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Burninator

They have them all over the Mount Royal area. Nobody that I know is a fan of them. They are used in small intersections where it a previously a two-way or four-way stop or an unmarked intersection. To my understanding the city put them in place to slow traffic. I guess people speeding was a problem.

Those are very different from the one in McKenzie Towne. That one has five intersections coming together (edit: 6 if you count the fire station) and joining with the road that come directly off Deerfoot. It handles a massive volume of traffic.

The ones in Mount Royal are as you said there as a traffic calming measure. But how often are there more than 2 or 3 cars using it at once? They are also all single lane, so you don't have the issue of people trying to cut across another lane of traffic.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by Burninator

To my understanding the city put them in place to slow traffic. I guess people speeding was a problem.

Practically, people treat them as a high speed chicane, most people don't even slow down for those. I've seen lots of tire tracks to suggest some people just drive right over the curbing. During the winter, someone took their bush guard equipped SUV and drove right over the signs in the middle of the island.

When I was in Spain and Portugal, if I got bored while the g/f shopped, I'd just step outside and watch 4 lane traffic circles in action. Never ceased to amaze me there wasn't a massive pileup.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by sec304

my biggets pet peeve is how Calgary has a small intersection and they feel the need to put 4 traffic lights with all directions having a flasher, wtf is that? it takes me like 12 minutes to drive one block down Country Hills Blvd now

That bugs me too. Especially the intersections that *have* to give each direction a separate right of way: ie: Macleod & Sun Valley/162nd.

Also, lights where they are completely not needed. I.e: Why is there a traffic light on MacLeod Trail leading into the Avenida shopping centre when it is easily accessed by the interchanges at the north and south ends of Lake Fraser Gate? That light in the middle serves no useful purpose, and only slows the flow of traffic.

[Bobblehead]

The city seems to have gone light crazy. In my neck of the woods they added lights to a spot where I have never witnessed more than one car waiting to come into traffic. I'm guessing they use it to slow down traffic - it doesn't work. All it does it annoy everyone in the area.

[Tron_fdc]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

I'm not sure if its common, but one thing they do there is leave your left blinker on if you are staying in the circle, right blinker means you are leaving at your next exit. These were all over the secondary highways there and work good instead of people turning left across speeding traffic. Everyone has to slow down, so its much safer.

This is how it should be done, but no one seems to have figured it out yet. Traffic circles are great if everyone know how to use em, but they certainly suck when everyone approaches them and stops because they can't figure out what's going on.

Just remember, yield to the person on your left (who is already in the circle). The person on your right has to yield to you.

[Circa89]

I was a witness to 2 seperate accidents in McKenzie Towne last week. When the cops phoned me for a statement I had to explain how the traffic circle worked to them. Mind you she was a female officer!

[Sharpen 'Em]

Originally Posted by Burninator

They have them all over the Mount Royal area. Nobody that I know is a fan of them. They are used in small intersections where it a previously a two-way or four-way stop or an unmarked intersection. To my understanding the city put them in place to slow traffic. I guess people speeding was a problem.

I used to live in Marda Loop and cut through Mount Royal once in a while to and from work. After they put in those traffic circles I always went through Mount Royal. They are much faster than a four way stop. Going through there was much faster for me than driving down 17th ave and then going south on 14th St.
I don't know who was sniffing glue when they thought this would eliminate some of the traffic through. Was it Madelline King or whatever her name is? It's actually kind of fun to drive though Mount Royal. Nice big trees, no stopping & crazy houses to look at. I talked to someone who lives there and he hates them. Hard to feel sorry for him though. His house is like a mansion.
The larger traffic cirlcles are a different story. Leave those for Edmonton.

[ernie]

traffic circles are great. Just remember that the car on the left has the right of way. Of course in order for them to work properly the cars inside the traffic circle have to actually signal their intentions. Signalling is not a strong point of North American drivers.

I remember my first trip to England...rented a car at Heathrow. When I came out of the ariport grounds there is a four or five lane roundabout...that is of course going the "wrong" direction being England and all. If that wasn't bad enough there were emergency vehicles screaming through from every which way! Talk about a quick intiation. But in the end the traffic moves so much smoother than it does with traffic lights.

I hate traffic lights.

I really hate when they build on overpass and put lights on top of it instead of building a clover leaf. I really really hate when they put lights on a roundabout (ahem Edmonton of 15 years ago).

I really really really hate when they turn a roundabout into a "rotary" which has different rules except they keep the roundabout rules posted at one entrance so no one knows what the heck is going on. Then they change is back to a roundabout and then back to a rotary to a roundabout to a rotary (ahem Halifax).

[looooob]

there is a traffic circle near my house...twice in the last month I have crossed paths with a vehicle driving straight into me going the wrong way around the circle...(of course they are staring at me like I'm in the wrong)

good times

[V]

I wouldn't be surprised if we started seeing more and more traffic circles. Signals are expensive, costing about 125K each intersection, just for the signals and the controller.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Dominicwasalreadytaken

Signals are expensive, costing about 125K each intersection, just for the signals and the controller.

How much would the extra land cost for a circle instead of lights? I know my house's land is worth about that much right now. (or at least 3/4 of that anyways.)

[V]

How much usable land does it take up compared to an average intersection? Honest question, I don't know. Could you fit four houses? 2? 1? Keep in mind the fact that the road's Right Of Way is significantly larger than the actual road itself. Would the traffic circle really take up much sellable land?

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

There is a school of thought in traffic design that is saying remove signs, create a 'question' in the drivers mind so that they are more aware of their surroundings and actually look at traffic conditions to determine how to best proceed.

It seems counter-intuitive, but where it has been put in place, drivers seem to use their brains instead of putting it on cruice control.

I should see if I can find the link.

It is this exact mentality that is the reason why, upon first glance, traffic in Roma seems crazy. Once you get used to it it is pure awesomeness.

Everyone is so aware of their surroundings, that what appears to be chaos, is actually double the volume of calgary traffic getting to where they're going in the same amount of time.

I've been mocked here before for endorsing things like lane splitting, but the reason people hate that kind of thing is because people in calgary like to drive with their brains on cruise control (well said, Bobblehead).

Three cheers for humongous traffic circles. Google-Earth Roma and have a look at the one in the middle of town. Thousands of cars go through daily and very, very few accidents occur. Scooters zipping inbetween cars and busses... It really is amazing. The day I do see an accident there, I'm going to rubberneck (like a true Calgarian) to see if the offender is a camera toting tourist with a Calgary Stampede T-shirt....

[Radically Red]

Having lived in Mckenzie town for 7 years now I really have not had many problems in the Circle. I could count mabye 7 times over that span where I get cut off by some dummy doing it wrong. I think it works just great.. Now the Bus I take home everyday could use a lesson or 2.

[firebug]

One of the other major benefits of a traffic circle is the types of accidents that result.

Rarely head-on collisions, no T-bones, etc.

While the accidents certainly are still expensive to repair, they are not the catastrophic type that results in critical injuries or fatalities.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Dominicwasalreadytaken

How much usable land does it take up compared to an average intersection? Honest question, I don't know. Could you fit four houses? 2? 1? Keep in mind the fact that the road's Right Of Way is significantly larger than the actual road itself. Would the traffic circle really take up much sellable land?

Well, using your example of including the right of way, with the traffic circle being bigger that also makes the RoW bigger too.

I'm not saying it's a whole lot bigger, but the arguement that it is cheaper because of no traffic lights in moot, because although it has fewer lights it does take more land.

And once again I'm talking about a traffic circle like the one in McKenzie Towne where there would be lights if it was a regular intersection; and not the Mount Royal types which are different animals all together.