Comment by faxmeyourcode | Hacker News Reader

Comment by faxmeyourcode | Hacker News Reader

A town I grew up in went absolutely crazy with roundabouts over the last 10 years or so. They built them everywhere. Most are pretty straightforward and they simplify traffic a ton but there were some bad design choices made.

Take this similarly confusing double-roundabout for example https://maps.app.goo.gl/VTSrSWsBGnsYyzKU6

There are accidents here almost every week and when an out of towner comes off the interstate to get some gas at Sam's Club (where I used to work) I had to try and explain to them how to get back onto the interstate...

I might try to clone this project idea, it was fun to play!

They also proposed a peanut style roundabout with a *train track going through it* that thankfully has not been built yet https://media.conwayarkansas.gov/media/documents/project/85/...

I grew up in a town in Australia nicknamed “the city of roundabouts.”

Four way stops simply don’t exist.

When well designed, roundabouts are excellent for traffic flow and reducing accidents and severity of accidents.

If I was king for a day I’d replace all four way stops with them.

I don't think Australia has many true four way stops in cities and towns. Usually there's a give way sign on two of the directions, or lights, or a roundabout.

Unmarked intersections do exist, mostly on bush tracks and backroads, but I don't think I've ever seen the four stop sign arrangement here in Vic. Apparently it's slightly more common in NSW.

As far as I’m aware they are nonexistent. I’ve driven a lot of the country and never seen one.

Grew up in windy Warrnambool. Guessing you are from my home town or Albury, WA.

obligatory callout to Carmel, Indiana who have made great strides in implementing roundabouts as much as possible

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmel,_Indiana

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cc12tk--qU

I have a conspiracy theory that these unnecessary projects to replace intersections with roundabouts in small/midsize towns are driven by kickbacks from the contractor to the city council.

Wow, thanks for sharing that maps. Looking at the satellite is wild. It's all roads and parking lots, barely any buildings. Even if you did fix the massive road infrastructure, what would they do, give the land back to businesses nearby?

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