Roundabout near signalized intersection

[johndoe]

Let's see some closely spaced intersections!

[Alps]

I'll start with a pair of signals 400-500 feet from a roundabout, former traffic circle:
https://maps.google.com/?ll=40.842191,-74.159383&spn=0.002423,0.004281&t=k&z=18

[deathtopumpkins]

How about a signalized intersection 0 feet from a rotary? 

http://goo.gl/maps/clslM

[tradephoric]

Roundabout in Worcester, MA:
https://maps.google.com/?ll=42.261785,-71.79522&spn=0.00311,0.003449&t=h&z=18

[Big John]

Do HAWKs count at a roundabout?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GQlwg5zfSU

[tradephoric]

This mall roundabout is roughly 300 feet from a major 6-lane boulevard.  Wonder if there's enough storage capacity during the Christmas shopping season:
https://maps.google.com/?ll=38.77212,-121.26649&z=18&t=h

[lordsutch]

Here's one in Macon: http://goo.gl/maps/NJMhX

However, since the Macon Mall is practically a dead mall at this point, I doubt storage capacity will ever be a problem.

[1995hoo]

Alexandria, Virginia. The roundabout at the southern end of Holland Lane/eastern end of Eisenhower Avenue is just east of a traffic light on Eisenhower. If you're coming from Holland Lane, the light is not visible until you exit the roundabout and there's no warning sign about the light. (Map link here: http://goo.gl/maps/PfGGU  The light is at the intersection of Eisenhower and John Carlyle.)

I usually like roundabouts, but this one really serves no purpose. The other road that goes off the southeast corner of the roundabout goes nowhere and gets almost no traffic.

Video of me encountering a jaywalker there earlier this month (click to play):

[Compulov]

How about the double-whammy I go through every day: http://goo.gl/rxM8Vq

That's a roundabout, followed in a few hundred feet by a railroad crossing (NJ Transit Princeton Spur/Dinky), followed very shortly (is it even 100ft?) by a traffic light. Traffic easily gets backed up through the roundabout due to either the light, the railroad gates, or both -- depending on the time of day, Of course there's lots of stupid people who stop on the tracks... At least the traffic light is triggered by the train, so it clears the trap between the light and the gates when a train approaches.

[Compulov]

How about a signalized intersection 0 feet from a rotary? 

http://goo.gl/maps/clslM

This looks a lot like the former intersection between NJ-70 and NJ-73. It was basically a circle where cut 73 through the middle with traffic lights added at the circumference intersecting points. There's other examples of that in NJ (just can't think of them off the top of my head).

Edit: Here we go... NJ-38 @ Church Rd... drove through this one on the way to the mall a few months ago: http://goo.gl/Dc0fk1

[tradephoric]

Railroad crossing through a roundabout at the University of Utah.  This roundabout is roughly 400 feet from a traffic signal at University Blvd and you can see a line of vehicles nearly backing up into the roundabout:
https://maps.google.com/?ll=40.759251,-111.844943&spn=0.001592,0.001725&t=h&z=19

[ChoralScholar]

Well, Conway, AR has gotten roundabout happy, so I'll look there.

Here's two roundabouts within a few hundred feet of each other:

http://goo.gl/maps/Zbgew

Here's two roundabouts AND a signal very close to each other:

http://goo.gl/maps/vcaet

[jeffandnicole]

How about a signalized intersection 0 feet from a rotary? 

http://goo.gl/maps/clslM

This looks a lot like the former intersection between NJ-70 and NJ-73. It was basically a circle where cut 73 through the middle with traffic lights added at the circumference intersecting points. There's other examples of that in NJ (just can't think of them off the top of my head).

Edit: Here we go... NJ-38 @ Church Rd... drove through this one on the way to the mall a few months ago: http://goo.gl/Dc0fk1

This circle near the Atlantic City Airport is the newest example of that...although the link will only show it's under construction, with the street label going thru the circle: http://goo.gl/maps/sFzbC

Per the newspaper reports, converting the circle to a semi-thru route was done in the same of safety (although, in most cases, an intersection is converted to a circle in the name of safety).  Per later news reports, motorists were complaining that what used to take a few seconds to get thru was now taking 15 minutes during rush hour, because of the new traffic lights.   

This became one of the classic cases where the politicians claimed they did the right thing, even though congestion went from nearly non-existent to severely congested!

[tradephoric]

Well, Conway, AR has gotten roundabout happy, so I'll look there.

Here's two roundabouts within a few hundred feet of each other:

http://goo.gl/maps/Zbgew

As far as closely spaced roundabouts go, how bout these two on Lee Road near Brighton, Michigan:

[Compulov]

As far as closely spaced roundabouts go, how bout these two on Lee Road near Brighton, Michigan:
(image snipped for brevity)

That picture made me wonder just how long it will be before we see the first Magic Roundabout here in the US... 

[Brandon]

As far as closely spaced roundabouts go, how bout these two on Lee Road near Brighton, Michigan:
(image snipped for brevity)

That picture made me wonder just how long it will be before we see the first Magic Roundabout here in the US... 

Any bets on which state does it first?  Given WisDOT's love of roundabouts, they are on my short list, but given MDOT's love of channelization, they do get on it as well.

[1995hoo]

I drove through the Magic Roundabout a few times and had no problems with it, though I recognize the same would not be true of the average American driver. Sometimes when I want to amuse myself I try picturing the Magic Roundabout replacing one of the traffic circles in the District of Columbia and the carnage that would ensue.

The ones I hate are the "chained mini-roundabouts" where they are directly adjacent to each other, far more so than in the picture above. Even the Magic Roundabout isn't truly a set of chained mini-roundabouts because there's a short gap between each one. Compare to this annoying thing I encountered near Bristol. What I hate when you encounter these things is when you have to stop and give way as you go from one mini-roundabout to the other. It feels like there's no room and the back of your car is in danger of being torn off if the guy behind you is staying on the first mini-roundabout. Even all my British friends say these things are a nuisance (whereas they don't much mind the Magic Roundabout either because there's space between them if you have to give way).

I guess a single oval-shaped roundabout at the particular spot I linked above would be too difficult for lorries or buses.

[cpzilliacus]

This roundabout on Highway 275 in Stockholm, Sweden has a signal in the circle itself, normally the wrong thing to do.

There are also signals at some of the entrances and exits to the roundabout.

But given the (heavy) nature of traffic (motorized and non-motorized) here, it makes sense.  The street that leads off to the northwest, Lindhagensgatan (English: Linden Grove Street), leads to an interchange with Esslingeleden motorway (E4/E20), which provides access in all directions. The interchange between Highway 275 and E4/E20 has many missing movements, so much of the traffic between 275 and E4/E20 has to use Lindhagensgatan (and this roundabout) for access between them.

[agentsteel53]

I drove through the Magic Roundabout a few times and had no problems with it, though I recognize the same would not be true of the average American driver.

I don't think I'd have much trouble with it if it were right-hand-drive, but the fact that it's left-hand means I wouldn't want to encounter it straight out of the rental car lot after landing.

[1995hoo]

I drove through the Magic Roundabout a few times and had no problems with it, though I recognize the same would not be true of the average American driver.

I don't think I'd have much trouble with it if it were right-hand-drive, but the fact that it's left-hand means I wouldn't want to encounter it straight out of the rental car lot after landing.

I think you have your hands confused. The UK is indeed right-hand-drive (steering wheel on the right). I know, you mean "right side driving."

Either way, good thing it's where it is, then–you wouldn't have to! From the car hire at Heathrow to the Magic Roundabout via the M4 is around 67 miles, so I'd had plenty of time to re-adjust to the car being the other way round. (The Magic Roundabout was my first stop on that particular trip, followed by Stonehenge, en route from Heathrow to Bristol. I ultimately found Stonehenge underwhelming and the Magic Roundabout more interesting, although I'm glad I went to Stonehenge just to have seen it.)

[agentsteel53]

I think you have your hands confused. The UK is indeed right-hand-drive (steering wheel on the right). I know, you mean "right side driving."

yep, that's what I meant.  raise your right hand if you haven't had your morning coffee.

your other right.

Either way, good thing it's where it is, then–you wouldn't have to! From the car hire at Heathrow to the Magic Roundabout via the M4 is around 67 miles, so I'd had plenty of time to re-adjust to the car being the other way round. (The Magic Roundabout was my first stop on that particular trip, followed by Stonehenge, en route from Heathrow to Bristol. I ultimately found Stonehenge underwhelming and the Magic Roundabout more interesting, although I'm glad I went to Stonehenge just to have seen it.)

is the Magic Roundabout something that people would have to pass through to get to somewhere interesting in the UK?  or is it just of local importance?  i.e. is it like US-89 in Flagstaff, which dang near everyone goes through to get to the Grand Canyon ... or is it like Breezewood, PA, which you really only need to go through if you're wanting to see something stupid, and/or clinch I-70.

[tradephoric]

As far as closely spaced roundabouts go, how bout these two on Lee Road near Brighton, Michigan:
(image snipped for brevity)

That picture made me wonder just how long it will be before we see the first Magic Roundabout here in the US... 

Any bets on which state does it first?  Given WisDOT's love of roundabouts, they are on my short list, but given MDOT's love of channelization, they do get on it as well.

My vote would be Wisconsin.   They have no qualms about constructing closely spaced roundabouts. 
https://maps.google.com/?ll=44.010792,-88.582345&spn=0.003468,0.005826&t=h&deg=90&z=18

[Compulov]

The ones I hate are the "chained mini-roundabouts" where they are directly adjacent to each other, far more so than in the picture above. Even the Magic Roundabout isn't truly a set of chained mini-roundabouts because there's a short gap between each one. Compare to this annoying thing I encountered near Bristol. What I hate when you encounter these things is when you have to stop and give way as you go from one mini-roundabout to the other. It feels like there's no room and the back of your car is in danger of being torn off if the guy behind you is staying on the first mini-roundabout. Even all my British friends say these things are a nuisance (whereas they don't much mind the Magic Roundabout either because there's space between them if you have to give way).

I guess a single oval-shaped roundabout at the particular spot I linked above would be too difficult for lorries or buses.

Dear lord, that looks extremely obnoxious. Guess there was no way to squeeze one large roundabout into that space? I think if it were designed with either a large truck apron or just as one large "mini" roundabout with no physical center median, trucks and busses could plow through it. It almost seems like someone at the road department *wanted* people to have to stop multiple times (traffic calming?).

[agentsteel53]

Dear lord, that looks extremely obnoxious. Guess there was no way to squeeze one large roundabout into that space? I think if it were designed with either a large truck apron or just as one large "mini" roundabout with no physical center median, trucks and busses could plow through it. It almost seems like someone at the road department *wanted* people to have to stop multiple times (traffic calming?).

there already appears to be a short barrier between the two centers.  maybe extend that as to cover the entire distance, closing off a pair of "shortcuts" but allowing drivers to have to yield only once.  indeed, it would turn it into a larger, more oval roundabout.

[31E]

Music Circle in Nashville, Tennessee is very close to a signalized intersection. On Google Earth I measure 229 feet from the edge of the roundabout to the closest stop line.