10,000 Modern Roundabouts in America

[tradephoric]

There are now over 10,000 modern roundabouts in America.  You can download the database here:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/90dpinbdui84k79/Modern_Roundabouts_USA.kmz/file

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ-wXqrWAAk

[sernum]

Do all states have at least one?

[Molandfreak]

Do all states have at least one?

Yes. There were seven states without one in 2007, but all of them have built some since then. https://www.siouxfalls.org/public-works/engineering/roundabouts/faqs

[Road Hog]

One neigboring city put in a roundabout – and stuck 4 stop signs on it, thereby defeating the purpose of a roundabout.

[skluth]

One neigboring city put in a roundabout – and stuck 4 stop signs on it, thereby defeating the purpose of a roundabout.

[HighwayStar]

Not a fan of roundabouts 

[CoolAngrybirdsrio4]

Not a fan of roundabouts 

Neither am I.

[Bruce]

We need so many more. All-way stops are poorly designed and lead to all sorts of dumb conflicts.

[Flint1979]

We need so many more. All-way stops are poorly designed and lead to all sorts of dumb conflicts.

I agree. I've been happy where I've seen them installed.

[kalvado]

We need so many more. All-way stops are poorly designed and lead to all sorts of dumb conflicts.

We need better engineers first. But I am not holding breath for that.

[SEWIGuy]

I wasn't a fan.  I moved to Green Bay where they are all over the place, now they are easy to navigate. 

[Rothman]

I am mostly for roundabouts.  I still raise an eyebrow at the string of roundabouts in Malta, NY, but for the most part I have seen roundabouts be much, much more of a benefit than a curse.

[thspfc]

Not a fan of roundabouts 

Why?

[triplemultiplex]

I for one appreciate a good roundabout; especially when I'm sitting there waiting for a daggum left turn arrow.

[kalvado]

Not a fan of roundabouts 

Why?

Because there is no design culture nor qualifications to plan them properly. No understanding of the overall role, no planning for future development. I think I saw one roundabout design that included proper traffic analysis. Project cost ended up at $15M, and traffic they were planning for disappeared the next year.

[tradephoric]

I'll reserve my opinions on roundabouts in this thread and just touch on the database itself.  This is the largest modern roundabout database in the US and consists of 10,116 existing modern roundabouts.  For reference the Kittelson and Associates database currently consists of 9,547 existing US locations but these include modern roundabouts, traffic calming circles, and old-style rotaries.  A great resource but much more broad in their scope (and for some reason Kittelson really like focusing on traffic calming circles in Seattle, Portland, and San Fran with only a sprinkling of traffic calming circles included throughout the rest of the country).

[Daniel Fiddler]

Normally I actually like roundabouts since I know how to navigate them properly (not everyone does), and I think my city (Jackson, Tennessee) should have more than it does, although the one it does have, in my opinion, was not put in the best of locations in my opinion (on the second-busiest north-south artery in the city), and I thought it was going to be a major catastrophe when it was installed, although the traffic has adapted well to it.

Speaking of people not navigating them properly, my family has not adapted to them well at all except for my mother, she's almost as good (not quite) at navigating around them, she's still slightly too slow / cautious in my opinion but not bad.  My late father, late stater, and younger brother at least used to avoid them at all costs if possible (I don't know if my younger brother still does), they loathe / loathed them.

[jeffandnicole]

Roundabouts are just like any other control feature. If you're not comfortable gauging traffic while at a yield sign, then gauging traffic when you have the right of way while others are approaching a yield sign, how do you manage to drive every place else?

Not a fan of roundabouts 

Why?

Because there is no design culture nor qualifications to plan them properly. No understanding of the overall role, no planning for future development. I think I saw one roundabout design that included proper traffic analysis. Project cost ended up at $15M, and traffic they were planning for disappeared the next year.

That's one. How about the other 10,000+ roundabouts?

How many intersections were rebuilt, then rebuilt again?  Only 1 needs to be found country-wide to match your experience on roundabouts.

[kalvado]

Roundabouts are just like any other control feature. If you're not comfortable gauging traffic while at a yield sign, then gauging traffic when you have the right of way while others are approaching a yield sign, how do you manage to drive every place else?

Not a fan of roundabouts 

Why?

Because there is no design culture nor qualifications to plan them properly. No understanding of the overall role, no planning for future development. I think I saw one roundabout design that included proper traffic analysis. Project cost ended up at $15M, and traffic they were planning for disappeared the next year.

That's one. How about the other 10,000+ roundabouts?

How many intersections were rebuilt, then rebuilt again?  Only 1 needs to be found country-wide to match your experience on roundabouts.

I wouldn't be surprised if there is a thousand or so which were given enough thinking in design phase. So yield may be non-zero after all.
Oh, and did I mention my daily commute going through a total of 1.5 traffic lights and 7 roundabouts? 

[mukade]

There are now over 10,000 modern roundabouts in America.  You can download the database here:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/90dpinbdui84k79/Modern_Roundabouts_USA.kmz/file

My anti-virus software flagged the page as dangerous. Can you confirm that it is not?

[tradephoric]

There are now over 10,000 modern roundabouts in America.  You can download the database here:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/90dpinbdui84k79/Modern_Roundabouts_USA.kmz/file

My anti-virus software flagged the page as dangerous. Can you confirm that it is not?

I was able to download it and open it with GE without any issue with the link provided.  But if there is another "safe" site that you trust to download from i can upload it there too.

[CoolAngrybirdsrio4]

Not a fan of roundabouts 

Neither am I.

However, I am tolerable of smaller roundabouts, but still can't stand the roundabouts at major intersections, where they are still crash prone, at least in Michigan that is.

[mukade]

There are now over 10,000 modern roundabouts in America.  You can download the database here:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/90dpinbdui84k79/Modern_Roundabouts_USA.kmz/file

My anti-virus software flagged the page as dangerous. Can you confirm that it is not?

I was able to download it and open it with GE without any issue with the link provided.  But if there is another "safe" site that you trust to download from i can upload it there too.

I downloaded it. I would guess that the domain or IP address range has some questionable sites - hence the AV software flags it.

I looked at the data in Google Earth. Needless to say, I am very impressed at the effort taken to create this data set.

That said, I did notice that this database includes at least three differences than Kittelson. First, some future roundabouts are included in this database and second, I did notice at least one roundabout completely inside a factory (in the Honda plant in Greensburg, IN). Also, there isn't a distinction between the true modern roundabouts and the quasi-roundabouts you see inside some subdivisions. With Kittelson, the latter might be categorized as "other". I am not sure if the distinction is really meaningful, but it is another difference.

[hbelkins]

Now would probably be another good opportunity to state how much I hate those blasted things. I was in hopes that the proliferation of these infernal things would be a fad.

[mukade]

We have at least 350 in the Indianapolis area, and getting close to 250 in my county with many more planned. The city of Carmel alone has 140.

I am a big fan of them, and I think it is fair to say that the vast majority of people like them because they save so much time and hassle. They are popular enough that some cities erect "roundabout coming soon" signs at intersections where they are planned.

I suppose the more of them you have and the more used to them you become, the more you like them.